Miss Popular
I was awkward in middle school: bony and athletic, with a high grade in science and a low one in self-esteem. Though I had a few friends, I wasn’t popular. I was picked last in football and I sometimes ate lunch by myself.
I remember the day Brittany came to our school. Her teeth were crooked(歪斜的), and she was a little overweight. Not that this mattered though, because she walked around like she was better than all of us. She was outspoken and incredibly frightening, making people lose confidence.
Around Brittany, I tried my best to go unnoticed. Standing out or stealing her spotlight could only result in one thing: conflict. Brittany was always the first girl picked for teams; I was lucky if I was picked at all. I was thrown the ball while she stood with the quarterback, chatting about the last party she’d gone to. I had never been to a party before or kissed a boy.
One day, a classmate asked me to the school dance. I was flattered. Then Brittany told me during science class that she had persuaded him to invite me. She asked in front of everyone, “Why would anyone even want you?” I went home and cried.
Although she was seemingly perfect in everyone’s eyes, I wanted to be everything that she wasn’t and yet a million times more perfect. Brittany was so frightening and violent, but I wanted to be calm and not at all aggressive.
I found Brittany’s online profile a few weeks ago. She still had the same chubby(圆胖脸) face and mocking（嘲笑的）simile, and had posted half-naked pictures of herself. But as I read on, I realized that Brittany had died in a drunken driving accident a year ago. She had been 16 and pregnant at the time. Suddenly my view of Brittany changed from a bad influence into a struggling little girl whose life was taken before she could understand right from wrong. My experience with Brittany taught me that though we are all innocent in our youth, the choices we make will have great effects on us forever. I will always remember Brittany as that loud, overconfident girl. As part of that shy insecure person I used to be will always keep me modest.
【小题1】From the first three passages we can conclude that           .

Miss Popular
I was awkward in middle school: bony and athletic, with a high grade in science and a low one in self-esteem. Though I had a few friends, I wasn’t popular. I was picked last in football and I sometimes ate lunch by myself.
I remember the day Brittany came to our school. Her teeth were crooked(歪斜的), and she was a little overweight. Not that this mattered though, because she walked around like she was better than all of us. She was outspoken and incredibly frightening, making people lose confidence.
Around Brittany, I tried my best to go unnoticed. Standing out or stealing her spotlight could only result in one thing: conflict. Brittany was always the first girl picked for teams; I was lucky if I was picked at all. I was thrown the ball while she stood with the quarterback, chatting about the last party she’d gone to. I had never been to a party before or kissed a boy.
One day, a classmate asked me to the school dance. I was flattered. Then Brittany told me during science class that she had persuaded him to invite me. She asked in front of everyone, “Why would anyone even want you?” I went home and cried.
Although she was seemingly perfect in everyone’s eyes, I wanted to be everything that she wasn’t and yet a million times more perfect. Brittany was so frightening and violent, but I wanted to be calm and not at all aggressive.
I found Brittany’s online profile a few weeks ago. She still had the same chubby(圆胖脸) face and mocking（嘲笑的）simile, and had posted half-naked pictures of herself. But as I read on, I realized that Brittany had died in a drunken driving accident a year ago. She had been 16 and pregnant at the time. Suddenly my view of Brittany changed from a bad influence into a struggling little girl whose life was taken before she could understand right from wrong. My experience with Brittany taught me that though we are all innocent in our youth, the choices we make will have great effects on us forever. I will always remember Brittany as that loud, overconfident girl. As part of that shy insecure person I used to be will always keep me modest.

1. 1.

   From the first three passages we can conclude that           .

   1. A.
      the author was trying to avoid conflict with Brittany
   2. B.
      the author secretly envied Brittany for being popular
   3. C.
      Brittany’s appearance made her popular with boys
   4. D.
      Brittany was puzzled at how she could be popular
2. 2.

   Which of the following is TRUE about Brittany?

   1. A.
      She didn’t mean to hurt the author.
   2. B.
      She took delight in hurting others.
   3. C.
      Her confidence came from her popularity.
   4. D.
      Her overweight made her more outspoken.
3. 3.

   According to the passage we can learn that the author         .

   1. A.
      was afraid of Brittany and followed her lead
   2. B.
      saw the influence that low self-esteem can have
   3. C.
      was determined to be better than Brittany
   4. D.
      knew she was quietly different from Brittany
4. 4.

   The last passage is meant to           .

   1. A.
      tell us the reason for Brittany’s death
   2. B.
      present the changed attitude to Brittany
   3. C.
      show the influences of the youth
   4. D.
      stress the importance of behaviors

When I was an education official in Palo Alto, California. Polly Tyner, the president of our school board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times. Polly’s son, Jim, had great difficulty in school. He was classified as educationally disabled and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers. But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room. His parents acknowledged his academic difficulties, but always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride. Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper.

Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed instantly in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known when I talked to him last that it would be the last time. If I had only known I would have said, “Jim, I love you and I’m very proud of you.”

I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he brought to the lives of the many who loved him. I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, the sound of his laughter, his genuine love of people.

When you put all the good qualities on the scale and try to balance all the irritating phenomena such as the radio which was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., your angry feelings won’t amount to much.

I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, you do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear if you knew it would be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the day he died. He called me to say, “Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. Got to go to work. Bye.” He gave me something to treasure forever.

If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate more of life and to have people, especially family members, take the time to let each other know just how much we care.

1.According to the passage, we know that ____.

A. Jim kept to himself                      B. Jim did very well in his studies

C. Jim’s parents were patient with him         D. Jim failed to finish his high school

2.The underlined word “irritating” in Paragraph 4 means ____.

A. annoying         B. aggressive           C. impatient            D. thrilling

3.By writing the letter printed in the Palo Alto Times, the author intends to ____.

A. mourn her son’s sudden death in a traffic accident

B. remind people to be cautious of motorcycles

C. advise people to take the chance to express their love in time

D. appreciate more of life than ever before

4.What can be the best title of the passage?

A. Love Your Family.                        B. Do It Today.

C. Walk with Pride.                         D. Appreciate Smiles.

When I was an education official in Palo Alto, California. Polly Tyner, the president of our school board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times. Polly’s son, Jim, had great difficulty in school. He was classified as educationally disabled and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers. But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room. His parents acknowledged his academic difficulties, but always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride. Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper.

Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed instantly in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known when I talked to him last that it would be the last time. If I had only known I would have said, “Jim, I love you and I’m very proud of you.”

I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he brought to the lives of the many who loved him. I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, the sound of his laughter, his genuine love of people.

When you put all the good qualities on the scale and try to balance all the irritating phenomena such as the radio which was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., your angry feelings won’t amount to much.

I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, you do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear if you knew it would be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the day he died. He called me to say, “Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. Got to go to work. Bye.” He gave me something to treasure forever.

If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate more of life and to have people, especially family members, take the time to let each other know just how much we care.

According to the passage, we know that ____.

A. Jim kept to himself                                      B. Jim did very well in his studies

C. Jim’s parents were patient with him               D. Jim failed to finish his high school

The underlined word “irritating” in Paragraph 4 means ____.

A. annoying                  B. aggressive                C. impatient                  D. thrilling

By writing the letter printed in the Palo Alto Times, the author intends to ____.

A. mourn her son’s sudden death in a traffic accident

B. remind people to be cautious of motorcycles

C. advise people to take the chance to express their love in time

D. appreciate more of life than ever before

What can be the best title of the passage?

A. Love Your Family.                                       B. Do It Today.

C. Walk with Pride.                                                 D. Appreciate Smiles.

My six-year-old granddaughter stared at me as if she were seeing me for the first time.”Grandma, you are an antique(古董),”she said. "You are old. Antiques are old. You are my antique."

I was not satisfied to let the matter rest there. I took out the Webster's Dictionary and read the definition(定义)to Jenny.I explained, "An antique is not only old, it's an object existing since or belonging to earlier times...a work of art... piece of furniture. Antiques are treasured,"I told Jenny as I put away the dictionary. "They have to be handled carefully because they sometimes are very valuable. In order to qualify as an antique, the object has to be at least 100 years old."

"I'm only 67,"I renunded Jenny.

We looked around the house for other antiques, besides me. There was a desk that was handed down from rone aunt to another and finally to our family. "It's very old,"I told Jenny.“I try to keep it polished and I show it off whenever I can. You do that with antiques."

There was a picture on the wall purchased at a garage sale. It was dated 1867. "Now  that's an antique," I boasted. "Over 100 years old." Of course it was marked up and scratched and not in very good condition. "Sometimes age does that," I told Jenny. "But the marks are good marks. They show living, being around. That's something to display with pride. In fact, sometimes, the more an object shows age, the more valuable it can become." It was important that I believed this for my own self-esteem.

Our tour of antiques continued. There was a vase on the floor. It had been in my house for a long time. I was not certain where it came from but I didn't buy it new. One thing about antiques, I explained to Jenny, was that they usually had a story. They'd been in one home and then another, handed down from one family to another, traveling all over the place. They'd lasted through years and years. They could have been tossed away, or ignored. or destroyed, or lost. But instead, they survived.

For a moment, Jenny looked thoughtful. “l don't have any antiques but you," she said. Then her face brightened. "Could I take you to school for show and tell?"

"Only if I fit into your backpack," I answered. And then Jenny's antique lifted her up and embraced her in a hug that would last through the years.

1.Grandma read the definition of "antique" to Jenny in order to         .

A．list all the important characteristics of antiques

B．tell Jenny the importance of protecting antiques

C．change Jenny's shallow understanding of antiques

D．express her disappointment at being called "antique"

2.Which of the following information did grandma convey to Jenny?

A．The desk reminded her of her dear relatives.

B．The marks on the picture showed its age and value.

C．There was usually a sad story behind each antique.

D．She planned to buy a new vase to replace the old one.

3.By saying "I don't have any antiques but you" (Paragraph 7), Jenny meant         .

A．grandma was a treasure to her

B．antiques were rare and valuable

C．she had nothing but a few possessions

D．grandma and antiques had a lot in common

4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Grandma was too old to lift Jenny up.

B．Jenny had a strong desire for grandma's love.

C．Jenny was too young to know grandma's humor.

D．Grandma had a deep long-lasting love for Jenny.

5.What can be the best title for the passage? 

A．Jenny's Antique                        B．A Story of Antiques

C．A Tour of Antiques                      D．Grandma's Antique