A school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids from my window as they played basketball. One day, among the children a girl attracted me. She seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys. Running circles around the other kids, she managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net with no one to stop her. Sometimes, I saw her play alone. She would practice dribbling (带球) and shooting over and over again until dark.

One day I asked her why she practiced so much. Without hesitation, she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is that I get a scholarship. If I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I like basketball. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Then she smiled and ran towards the court to go on with practice.

I watched her through junior high and into high school. Every week, she led her school team to victory. One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head cradled (抱) in her arms. I went over there and sat down beside her. The coach told her that as a player as tall as 5’5” she would probably never get to play for a top ranked college team ― much less offered a scholarship ― so she should stop dreaming about college.

She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college and if she truly wanted a scholarship, nothing could stop her except one thing ― her own attitude. He told her again, “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.”

The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter (招聘人员), and was offered a full scholarship, to a NCAA women’s basketball team. She was going to college, which she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years.

41. Which of the following is true about the girl according to the passage? 

A. She sometimes played alone because she was too short.

B. She played basketball so well that she could compete against some boys.

C. She believed girls had to pay more than boys to succeed.

D. She felt sad when her coach didn’t allow her to play for a college team.

42. What can we learn from the story? 

A. Follow your dream and you’ll make it sooner or later.

B. Take our teachers’ advice when making a decision.

C. Whoever wants to succeed must get a scholarship.

D. Failure is the mother of success.

43. What can we infer from the passage? 

A. Anyone who dreams every day will surely succeed.

B. Basketball players can go to college without studying well.

C. It’s not easy to become a member of NCAA basketball team.

D. Only if you have a good teacher can you succeed.

44. The coach advised the girl to quit because he thought ___________.  

A. she had lost confidence in her ability to play well

B. she had been good enough to get a scholarship

C. she couldn’t get along well with her teammates

D. she was too short to realize her dream                  

Children become more generous as they get older，learning the principles of equality by the age of eight.That may not be too surprising to anyone who has kids.

Humans are born with a sense of fairness that most other animals seem not to share，but it’s not been clear exactly when this concept starts to develop.

Dr.Alva Zhao and her colleagues conducted a series of tests to measure just how much children care about equality at different ages.In three different versions of a game，children were asked to choose between two ways of sharing a number of sweets with themselves and an unfamiliar partner.They could choose，for example，between one for me and one for you，or just having one for themselves.

At the age of three，children were “almost completely selfish”，says Zhao.

They refused to give sweets away even if it made no difference to themselves.But by the age of eight，children generally preferred the fair option，sharing a prize equally rather than keeping it all to themselves.

Several other factors influenced how fair the children were.The team found that children without brothers or sisters were 28% more likely to share than children with brothers or sisters.On the other hand，the youngest children in a family were 17% less willing to share than children who had only younger brother or sister.

In addition，if children knew that their partner was from the same playgroup or school，they were more concerned about being fair.This suggests that being nice to people you know is something that develops a sense of equality.

1．The main idea of the first paragraph is________.

A．parents know clearly when their kids are more willing to share

B．the kids’ willingness of sharing is learned from their family

C．the older the kids are，the more selfish they will become

D．kids become more generous when they reach a certain age

2．The tests conducted by Dr.Alva Zhao and her colleagues were aimed at________.

A．how kids develop a quality of fairness in games

B．children’s awareness of equality at different ages

C．the reasons why children care about equality

D．children’s attitudes towards other partners

3．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Children under three know little about being fair.

B．Children above eight years old become less selfish.

C．Children with brothers or sisters tend to be more generous.

D．The youngest child in a family tends to be less generous.

4．We can learn that children care more about equality while with________.

A．unknown people 　　 B．nice people

C．familiar people 　 D．fair people