My friend Michelle is blind, but you’d never know it. She makes such good use of her other    , including her “sixth sense”,   she rarely gives the impression she’s missed anything.

  Michelle looks after her children pretty much like the rest of us, except that she doesn’t push too hard on them, who really benefit a lot from her relaxed attitude. She knows when to clean the house, she moves around so fast that often the    don't realize she's blind.

  I realize this the first time after my six-year-old daughter, Kayla, went to play there. When Kayla came home, she was very   about her day. She told me they had baked cookies, played games and done art projects. But she was   excited about her finger-painting project.

  “Mom, guess what?”said Kayla, all smiles. “I learned how to      colors today! Blue and red make purple, and yellow and blue make green! And Michelle      with us.”

  To my great      my child had learnt about color from a blind friend!

  Then Kayla continued, “Michelle told me my       showed joy, pride and a sense of accomplishment. She really      what I was doing!’’ Kayla said she had never felt how good finger paints felt      Michelle showed her how to paint without looking at her paper.

  I realized Kayla didn’t know that Michelle was blind. It had just never come up in conversation.

  When I told her, she was      for a moment. At first, she didn’t believe me. “But Mommy, Michelle knew exactly what was in my picture!” Kayla     . And I knew my child was      because Michelle had listened to Kayla describe her artwork. Michelle had also heard Kayla's pride in her work.

  We were silent for a minute.Then Kayla said slowly, “You know, Mommy, Michelle really did ‘see’ my picture. She just used my      .’’ Indeed, she uses a special type of “vision” that all mothers have.

1.A.ways      B.means         C.methods      D.senses  

2.A.which     B.when          C.that          D.as

3.A.guests     B.family         C.children      D.friends

4.A.excited    B.sad            C.satisfied      D.enjoyed

5.A.especially  B.not so          C.a little       D.not at all

6.A.paint      B.draw           C.mix         D.create

7.A.stayed     B.painted         C.talked       D.played

8.A.excitement  B.encouragement  C.delight       D.surprise

9.A.attitude     B.color           C.picture      D.paper

10.A.touched    B.distinguished    C.saw         D.understood

11.A.after      B.before          C.until         D.when

12.A.curious    B.quiet           C.puzzled      D.worried

13.A.cried      B.insisted         C.complained   D.informed

14.A.right      B.wrong          C.worried       D.uncertain

15.A.paper     B.pens            C.hands        D.eyes

My friend Michelle is blind, but you’d never know it. She makes such good use of her other 36, including her “sixth sense”, 37 she rarely gives the impression she’s missed anything.
Michelle looks after her children pretty much like the rest of us, 38 that she doesn’t push too hard on them, 39 really benefit a lot from her relaxed attitude. She knows when to clean the house, she moves around so fast that often the 40 don’t realize she’s blind.
I 41 this the first time after my six-year-old daughter, Kayla, went to play there. When Kayla came home, she was very 42 about her day. She told me they had baked cookies, played games and done art projects. But she was 43 excited about her finger-painting project.
“Mom, guess what?” said Kayla, all smiles. “I learned how to 44 colors today! Blue and red make purple, and yellow and blue make green! And Michelle 45 with us.”
To my great 46, my child had learnt about color from a blind friend!
Then Kayla continued, “Michelle told me my 47 showed joy, pride and a sense of accomplishment. She really 48 what I was doing!” Kayla said she had never felt how good finger paints felt 49 Michelle showed her how to paint without looking at her paper.
I realized Kayla didn’t know that Michelle was blind. It had just never 50 in conversation.
When I told her, she was 51 for a moment. At first, she didn’t believe me. “But Mommy, Michelle knew exactly what was in my picture!” Kayla 52. And I knew my child was 53 because Michelle had listened to Kayla describe her artwork. Michelle had also heard Kayla’s 54 in her work.
We were silent for a minute. Then Kayla said slowly, “You know, Mommy, Michelle really did ‘see’ my picture. She just used my 55. ” Indeed, she uses a special type of “vision” that all mothers have.

It was the first day of school. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a little old lady smiling at me. She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”
I laughed and said, “Of course!” And she gave me a big hug. “Why are you in college at such an age?” I asked.
She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have kids and then retire and travel.”
“No seriously.”
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!”
We became friends at once. Over the course of the year, Rose easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she was happy with the attention given to her from the other students. At the end of the term we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet（宴会）. I’ll never forget what she taught us in her speech.
“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one useful thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity to do productive things. Have no regrets（遗憾；后悔）. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but we regret for things we did not do.”
At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral to honor the wonderful woman!
【小题1】While meeting Rose at the college for the first time, the author was curious about _______.

基础训练篇（6）

I attended a birthday party in 1991. My teacher was then 59 years old. (1)__________ her fellow teacher said that we (2)_____________(celebrate) her 39th birthday! We were all (3)____________ (surprise) and puzzled.

After the party I was told by the fellow teacher that American women have a special saying about (4)___________ (birth). If a woman is (5)________ 40, or even if she is 80, her birthday is always the 39th. If she is in her thirties, her birthday will be the 29th. And in her (6)____________, it’s the 19th. They usually have their “real” birthday when they are (7)__________ 20.

This shows that American women, (8)_________________ (special) elderly women, are very sensitive about their ages. But my teacher always says, “We want to be (9) ______________. ” so about the age of Western women, my advice is (10)_____________ if you don’t know it, don’t ask about it; if you really know it, don’t mention it.

Grace Kane hangs onto an Olympic dream of clinging to a granite (花岗岩) wall by her fingertips 70 feet from the ground. The fearless girl is only 10, but already has scaled great heights in the sport of rock climbing.

Last week, Kane won a bronze in the 11­and­younger sport class at the USA Climbing Youth National Championships in Atlanta. She was the only competitor of the 31 there with no climbing coach or top­flight facilities in which to train. Climbing will become an exhibition at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil. The hope of enthusiasts is that the sport will gain full status in 2020.“I’m already training for that,” said Kane. “Climbing is my passion, my love, and I want to make something of it.”

Her dad took her to climb rocks on her fourth birthday for the first time and today he can’t keep up with her, “It’s the freedom to let loose,” she said. “When I’m up there, I’m so focused and don’t hear anything. I always feel comforted knowing people are supporting me.”

The bronze in Atlanta qualified Kane for the USA team and November’s International Championships in Ecuador. That’s a trip she might have to miss because it’s too expensive.

Kane held a backyard music concert---she played the guitar and the piano and wrote inspirational songs---and raised $600 for her $1,500 trip to Atlanta. She’s also been sponsored by a shoe company, but must rely heavily on donations from family and friends for travel expenses.

Her mom Heather Kane said the family has chosen “to do whatever we need to help her achieve her goals”. One of Grace’s biggest challenges is finding balance in her life. There’s school, her music and church to fit around climbing.

“Climbing is going to mean sacrificing things other kids might pursue,” Grace said. “But it doesn’t bother me. It’s like playing the piano; you can’t take a break or you’ll lose your touch.”

1.What would be the best title of the passage?

A. Rock climbing gains popularity

B. Grace Kane likes challenges

C.A young climber follows her dream

D. An amazing victory for a young rock climber

2.We can learn from the second paragraph that rock climbing ________.

A. is not an exhibition at the Olympics now

B. is an official event at the Olympics now

C. is not open to children

D. will gain full status in 2020

3.Which of the following is TRUE about Grace Kane?

A. She is only interested in rock climbing.

B. She is a girl with many talents.

C. Rock climbing has affected her study.

D. She has won gold medals in several matches.

4.One of Grace’s biggest challenges is to ________.

A. find a capable coach for her

B. get qualified for the USA team

C. raise enough money for International competitions

D. keep balance between rock climbing and other activities