When I was learning calligraphy my teacher told me a story.

A calligrapher taught handwriting. One of his students who often practised handwriting with old sheets of newspapers complained that he made very little progress though he had learned it with the calligrapher for a long time. His teacher said to him, “Try to use the best paper. Maybe you’ll write better. ”

　The student did as he was told. It really worked. He made headway not long afterwards and felt curious. He asked his teacher about the reason. The calligrapher answered, “When you used old newspapers to practice handwriting，you would think you were writing a draft（草稿）.  It didn’t matter if you wrote badly as old newspapers were plenty in supply. In that case you wouldn’t pay much attention to it. Now you use the best paper you’ll treasure it. Each time you write you feel strongly about the rarity (稀少) of chances and you’ll devote to it with all your heart and soul; you’ll do the handwriting much more attentively than otherwise practising it. Of course you’ve made rapid progress.”

Indeed，we spend our ordinary days just as they are worthless “old newspapers”. We don’t care if we scrawl and waste them, thinking that they will come endlessly --- those “old newspapers” are inexhaustible. In such a mood we may each day pass by opportunities but fail to catch any of them.

Life is not a military exercise but an actual war in which real weapons are used. In everyday life there’s no chance for us to draw a draft. That’s because what we call “draft” actually is the answer sheet we write that cannot be changed. Every day of our life is something new. Let us take every day as a sheet of best paper.

1.The calligrapher in the story told the student to write on the best paper because he thought _______.

A．the student would practice more carefully on the best paper

B．it was comfortable to write on the bet paper

C．the student had enough money to buy the best paper.

D．the student could write more on the best paper.

2.The student didn’t make much progress at first because _________.

A．he regarded his writing on old newspaper just as a draft

B．he was too poor to buy better paper to write

C．he didn’t follow his teacher’s advice

D．he was not used to the calligrapher’s teaching manner

3.We learn from the passage that _________.

A．the student finally gave up

B．the student made rapid progress by persisting more carefully

C．the calligrapher was strict with his students

D．old newspaper is not useful

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．What teachers say is always true.

B．Success calls for attentiveness.

C．Handwriting is easy to practice.

D．New things are always better than old ones.

5.The writer wants to tell us that _________.

A．there are some good ways to practice handwriting

B．life is like old newspaper

C．we should learn from the student in the story

D．life will not give us a chance to draw a draft

 

Four Year-Old Buy Becomes Queen Elizabeth’s Pen Pal

       London, England: A four-year-old boy has become pen pals with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. Tom Stancombe started exchanging letters with the queen after he set free a balloon, carrying his name and address, at a school party and it landed in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

       The queen spotted the balloon and asked her personal assistant, Angela Kelly, to write a letter on her behalf.

       She wrote: “The queen was delighted to find that your balloon had traveled all the way to the gardens at Windsor Castle.”

       Tom, who proudly put the letter on his wall ,wrote back to say that his great, great grandfather ,the artist Petrus Johannes Arundzen, had been commissioned（受委托）to copy Dutch masters on display at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.

       Angela at once replied that she would contact the Royal Collection to find out what had happened to the art works .She kept her word and two weeks later wrote to Tom to tell him what had happened to the etchings, explaining they now form part of the print collection in the Print Library.

       Angela then asked a favor of Tom, writing: “Would you be able to ask your Mummy and Daddy for me if they know anything more about your great, great grandfather .Royal Collection would love to know more about him.”

       Along with his parents, Tom wrote back to fill in all the gaps about Petrus Johannes Arundzen.

       Although Tom’s parents don’t think there will be any more letters exchanged between the pair, they were touched that she had taken time to contact them.

       Tom’s father said: “I don’t expect we’ll go another one, but I think it’s incredible they bothered replying at all.”

1．What is Windsor Castle?

       A．A playing garden                                  B．The queen’s home.

       C．A post office.                                      D．A rose garden.

2．What does the underlined word “etchings” mean?

       A．Photos.               B．Paintings.            C．Postcards.           D．Cartoons.

3．How does the queen know the boy?

       A．By chance occurrence.                         B．By exchanging letters.

       C．By letting go the balloon.                      D．By the queen’s secretary.

4．Tom’s parents      .

       A．feel very much shocked about the letters and refuse to answer them

       B．try to deal with the friendship naturally but refuse to do anything about it

       C．don’t take the matter very seriously but somehow feel good at heart

       D．don’t think this friendship will last long but still look forward to new letters

Four Year-Old Buy Becomes Queen Elizabeth’s Pen Pal

       London, England: A four-year-old boy has become pen pals with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. Tom Stancombe started exchanging letters with the queen after he set free a balloon, carrying his name and address, at a school party and it landed in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

       The queen spotted the balloon and asked her personal assistant, Angela Kelly, to write a letter on her behalf.

       She wrote: “The queen was delighted to find that your balloon had traveled all the way to the gardens at Windsor Castle.”

       Tom, who proudly put the letter on his wall ,wrote back to say that his great, great grandfather ,the artist Petrus Johannes Arundzen, had been commissioned（受委托）to copy Dutch masters on display at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.

       Angela at once replied that she would contact the Royal Collection to find out what had happened to the art works .She kept her word and two weeks later wrote to Tom to tell him what had happened to the etchings, explaining they now form part of the print collection in the Print Library.

       Angela then asked a favor of Tom, writing: “Would you be able to ask your Mummy and Daddy for me if they know anything more about your great, great grandfather .Royal Collection would love to know more about him.”

       Along with his parents, Tom wrote back to fill in all the gaps about Petrus Johannes Arundzen.

       Although Tom’s parents don’t think there will be any more letters exchanged between the pair, they were touched that she had taken time to contact them.

       Tom’s father said: “I don’t expect we’ll go another one, but I think it’s incredible they bothered replying at all.”

1．What is Windsor Castle?

       A．A playing garden                                  B．The queen’s home.

       C．A post office.                                      D．A rose garden.

2．What does the underlined word “etchings” mean?

       A．Photos.               B．Paintings.            C．Postcards.           D．Cartoons.

3．How does the queen know the boy?

       A．By chance occurrence.                         B．By exchanging letters.

       C．By letting go the balloon.                      D．By the queen’s secretary.

4．Tom’s parents      .

       A．feel very much shocked about the letters and refuse to answer them

       B．try to deal with the friendship naturally but refuse to do anything about it

       C．don’t take the matter very seriously but somehow feel good at heart

       D．don’t think this friendship will last long but still look forward to new letters

Frankly，I appreciate myself very much.Yes，I admit I’m in many aspects not as good as other people，but I don’t think I’m always not good.When I find what I’ve done or written is okay，I’ll remain pleased with myself for quite a few days，and if I receive praise for it，I’ll even become so excited as to add a few words to reward myself.

True，I’m not modest at all.People may call me conceited(自负的)．But I think otherwise.

I appreciate other people.I appreciate anything good.Isn’t it unfair to forget appreciating myself while appreciating others?

We Chinese generally tend to be modest，and we take pride in being so.For example，a Chinese man will call his own wife zhuojing，meaning “my humble wife”，and his own writings zhuozuo，meaning “my poor writings”．But if you call his wife a “rustic(乡村的)woman”or his writings “trash”，he would，I’m sure，declare he would make a clean break with you angrily.As a matter of fact，there is probably no difference at all between what is said by him and you.

I don’t think it’s wrong of you to freely praise yourself if you’re really worthy of praise.As we know，there is an old Chinese saying disparaging(蔑视) a melon seller，named Lao Wang，who keeps praising his own goods.Well，why can’t he praise his melons if they are really sweet and juicy?

Lao Wang sells melons for a living.How could he carry on business if he，by imitating the affectations(装模作样)of us intellectuals，were to show false modesty about his melons？He would sure enough die of starvation.

Self?appreciation is therefore a key to professional dedication and enjoyment of work.Needless to say，the same is true of those who make a living with their pen.One will lose confidence in writing when he stops admiring his own essays.

1．We know from the first three paragraphs that the author________.

A．is modest in some way

B．is pleased to be a good writer

C．is too conceited

D．thinks it unfair to appreciate others

2．What do we know about the author’s attitude towards Chinese modesty according to Paragraph 4?

A．Supportive.　　　　　　　B．Negative.

C．Neutral.　 　　　　　　 D．Careless.

3．The author mentions the example of Lao Wang to prove that ________.

A．Lao Wang is very proud of himself

B．melon sellers should praise their goods

C．reasonable self?appreciation is good

D．writers should learn from Lao Wang

4．The purpose of the passage is to encourage readers to be________.

A．modest 　　　　　　　B．considerate

C．respectful 　　　　　 D．confident