The Price of a Dream
I grew up poor, living with my wonderful mother. We had little money but plenty of love and attention.  I was   36  and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still   37  a dream.
My dream was to be a sportsman.   38  I was sixteen, I had started playing baseball. I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball and hit anything that moved on the football field.  I was also   39 . My high-school coach was Ollie Jarvis, who not only believed in me, but taught me  40 to believe in myself. He   41 me the difference between having a dream and realizing the dream. One particular   42  with Coach Jarvis changed my life forever.
It was the summer between my junior and senior years, and a friend recommended (推荐) me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket—money for a new bike and new clothes, and the   43  of savings for a house for my mother. Then I realized I would have to   44  summer baseball to deal with the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing. 
When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as   45  as I expected him to be.  “You have your whole life to work,” he said.  “Your playing days are limited. You can’t   46  to waste them.” I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the   47  that would explain   48  him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his   49  in me.
“How much are you going to make at this job, son?” he asked. “Three twenty-five an hour,” I replied.
“Well,” he asked, “is $3.25 an hour the   50  of a dream?”
That simple question made it   51  to me the difference between   52  something right now and following a dream. I   53  myself to sports that summer, and within the year I was   54  by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and was   55  a $20,000 contract. In 2000, I bought my mother the house of my dream!

Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask．But，as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history，I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history．Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history．
The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past．I believe that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the things that made these successes and failures．However，as the unfortunately(不幸地)true statement goes ‘‘the one thing we seem to learn from history is that we don't seem to
learn from history”，perhaps at least in teaching history, to my children I can do a small part in changing this．
A second major reason for studying history is that it is hard to understand the current(目前的)political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context(背景)．We can not
even understand why we are and where we are without history，much less try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be．
I teach my children history，for one more reason．I bought a set of historical audio tapes for our children．My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over．It was my hope that he would
become inspired by the accomplishments(成就)of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himself．I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr. By doing so，young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he didn’t accomplish．I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler，people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for．
【小题1】What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 ?

I was driving home one evening about 5, stuck in traffic, and the car started to die— I hardly managed to get into a gas station, glad only that I would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck(拖车). Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the “ Quickie Mart” building, then suddenly she slipped(滑倒) on some ice and fell down, so I got out to see if she was okay.

When I got there, it looked like she had been overcome by weep than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked exhausted with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up and gave it to her. It was a coin.

At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban packed full of stuff and three kids in the back, and the gas pump(汽油泵) reading $4.95.

I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying “I don’t want my kids to see me crying,” so we stood at the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California for Christmas and that things were very hard for her right now.

I took out my credit card and swiped(刷磁卡) it through the card reader on the pump so that she could fill up her car completely, and I bought 2 big bags of food for her kids in the car who attacked it like wolves. While it was fueling, she asked, “So, are you an angel or something?” I said, “At this time of year, angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses common people.”

It was unbelievable to be part of someone else’s miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. Sometimes, angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter(摆动) of their wings.

1.. Caught in traffic, the author still felt happy because      .

    A. she could fill up her car to get home in time[来源:Z,xx,k.Com]

    B. the woman who needed help was waiting there

    C. she could find a warm place to wait

    D. she could do something for others in the gas station

2.. The young woman cried because      .

    A. her situation was very terrible      B. her kids wouldn’t listen to her

    C. she was too tired                    D. she fell down and got injured

3.. It can be inferred from the passage that     .

    A. the author was driving carelessly on the way home

    B. the young woman was interested in long driving

    C. the young woman didn’t want to see her kids crying

    D. the kids were extremely hungry at that time

4.. According to the passage, we can say that the author     .

    A. was a kind person                    B. liked to deal with others’ business

    C. had no thought for others            D. was a real angel

Some children are natural-born bosses. They have a strong need to make decisions，manage their environment，and lead rather than follow. Stephen Jackson，a Year One student，“operates under the theory of what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine，” says his mother. “The other day I bought two new Star Wars light sabers (剑). Later，I saw Stephen with the two new ones while his brother was using the beat-up ones.”

“Examine the extended family，and you'll probably find a bossy grandparent，aunt，uncle or cousin in every generation. It's an inheritable trait，” says Russell Barkley，a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. Other children who may not be particularly bossy can gradually gain dominance (支配地位) when they sense their parents are weak，hesitant，or in disagreement with each other.

Whether it's inborn nature or developed character at work，too much control in the hands of the young isn't healthy for children or the family. Fear is at the root of a lot of bossy behavior，says family psychologist John Taylor. Children，he says in his book From Defiance to Cooperation，“have secret feelings of weakness” and “a desire to feel safe.” It's the parents' role to provide that protection.

When a “boss child” doesn't learn limits at home，the stage is set for a host of troubles outside the family. The overly willful and unbending child may have trouble obeying teachers or coaches，for example，or trouble keeping friends. It can be pretty lonely as the top dog if no one likes your bossy ways.

“I see more and more parents giving up their power，” says Barkley，who has studied bossy behavior for more than 30 years. “They bend too far because they don't want to be as strict as their own parents were. But they also feel less confident about their parenting skills. Their kids，in turn，feel more anxious.”

1.Bossy children like Stephen Jackson_________.

A. make good decisions                  B. show self-centeredness

C. lack care from others                    D. have little sense of fear

2.The underlined phrase “inheritable trait” in Paragraph 2 means ___________.

A. inborn nature                        B. developed character

C. accepted theory                      D. particular environment

3.The study on bossy behavior implies that parents_________.

A. should give more power to their children

B. should be strict with their children

C. should not be so anxious about their children

D. should not set limits for their children

4.What is the passage mainly about？

A. How bossy behavior can be controlled.       

B. How we can get along with bossy children.

C. What leads to children's bossy behavior.    

D. What effect bossy behavior brings about.

I believe honesty is one of the greatest gifts. I know they call it a lot of fancy names these days, like  36_ and straightforward .And it’s still what  37  a man a good citizen .This is my secret ,and I try to live by .
I’ve been in the taxi business for thirty-five year,  38  there is a lot about it that is not so good. Taxi drivers have to be rough and tumble (乱作一团) fellows to be able to take it in New York. You’ve got to be  39  to fight the New York traffic eight hours a day . Because taxi drivers are tough, people get the   40  impression that they are bad .Taxi drivers are just like other people. Most of them will act as   41  fellows. You read in the papers almost every week   42  a taxi driver turns in money or jewels or like that people leave in their   43  . If they weren’t hones, you wouldn’t be reading those stories in the papers. One time .I found an emerald (翡翠的) ring in my car. I remembered helping a lady with a lot of suitcases that day , so I went back to where I had   44  . It took me almost two days to wait for her in order to return her   45  to her. I didn’t get much as “thank you”.  46  I felt good because I had done what was right. I think I felt better than she   47  .
I was born and raised in Ireland until I was nineteen years old. I came to this country in 1913 where I   48  several jobs to earn a few dollars before joining the army in Word War I. After being discharged (退伍), I bought my own car and have owned one ever since. It hasn’t been too easy   49  , but my wife takes care of our money and we have a good bit   50  for a rainy day (一时之需). In all my years of driving a taxi, I have never had   51  with the public, not even with drunks. Even if they get a little headstrong (顽固的) once in a while, I just agree with them and then they behave themselves.
People ask me about tips. As far as I know,   52  everyone will give you something , because most Americans are   53  generous . I always try to be nice to everyone, whether they   54  or not. I believe in God and try to be a good member of my parish (教区 ). I try to act toward others like I think god wants me to act. I have been trying this for a long time, and the   55  I try , the easier it gets.