When I was seven, my parents gave me a doll, a doll’s house and a book. The Arabian Nights, came wrapped in red paper. I was just ready to read when my mother walked into my room．

“Isn’t your doll just beautiful?” my mother asked. I looked at the doll, with fair hair in a pink dress----I’ll have to call her “she” because I never gave her a name. I folded my lips and raised my eyebrows, not really knowing how to let my mother down easily.

“This doll is different.” My mother explained, trying to talk me into playing with it.

Thinking the doll needed love, I hugged her tightly for a long time. Useless, I said to myself. Finally, I decided to play with the doll’s house. But since rearranging the tiny furniture seemed to be the only active possible, I lost interest. I caught sight again of the third of my gifts The Arabian Nights, and I began to read it. From that moment, the book was my constant companion.

Every day I climbed our garden tree, nestled among its branches, I read the stories in The Arabian Nights to my heart’s content. My mother became concerned as she noticed I wasn’t playing with either the doll or the little house. She insisted that I take the doll up the tree with me.

Trying to read on a branch 15 feet off the ground while holding on to the silly doll was not easy. After nearly falling off twice, I tied one end of a long vine around the doll’s neck and the opposite one around the branch, letting the doll hang in mid air while I read. I always looked out for my mother, though. I sensed that my playing with the doll was of great importance to her. So every time I heard her coming, I lifted the doll up and hugged her. The smile in my mother’s eyes told me my plan worked.

The inevitable(不可避免的) happened one afternoon. Totally absorbed in the reading, I didn’t hear my mother calling me. When I looked down, I saw my mother staring at the hanging doll. Fearing the worst of scolding, I climbed down in a flash, reaching the ground just as my mother was untying the doll. To my surprise, she didn’t scold. She kept on staring at the doll．

The next day, my father came home early and suggested he and I play with the doll’s house. Soon I was bored, but my father seemed to be having so much fun, I didn’t have the heart to tell him. Quietly I slipped out, picking up my book on my way to the yard. So absorbed was he in arranging and rearranging the tiny furniture that he didn’t notice my quick exit.

Almost 20 years passed before I found out why the hanging-doll incident had been so significant for my parents. By then I was a parent myself. After recalling the incident, my mother said all those years she had been afraid whether I would turn out to be a most loving and understanding mother to my son．

My mother often thanks God aloud for making me a good parent, pointing out that with education I might have been a rich dentist instead of a poor poet. I look back on that same childhood incident, recalling my third gift, the book in red-paper, and I take advantage of the experiences that have made me who and what I am. Sometimes I pause to wonder at life’s wonderful ironies （讽刺）.

1.Why didn’t the author give the doll a name?

A. Because the gift was given by her parents.

B. Because the girl didn’t care much for the doll.

C. Because her parents would give the doll a name.

D. Because the doll had little in common with her.

2.The author’s account of a childhood incident shows that, as a young girl, she viewed her parents as people who         .

A. hoped to shape their children’s future  

B. were unconcerned about their behavior

C. ruined their children’s dreams completely

D. might withdraw their love at any moment

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A. The mother is now satisfied with her daughter’s career.

B. The daughter now regrets what she did when she was a girl.

C. The mother thinks the daughter’s achievements are unsatisfactory.

D. The daughter wishes that she had been allowed more freedom as a child.

 

    It was past 10∶00 pm．I was busy with my schoolwork though I was，  1   ．Just then，my little brother Michael ran out of his room，   2    a pen on his right hand and a piece of paper on the other

    “Betty, can you help me with my    3    for school? It's about the seven   4   of the world．”he said．

    My eyes were so   5    on the computer screen that my brother had to pull my blouse just to get my   6.

    “Look，not right now! I'm very busy”I said.“You're always busy! You're always like that!” he replied.

    I felt a bit guilty(愧疚)   7   I thought about his words，but my work seemed more   8   to me than my brother's I sighed(又气)a few times and   9    with my own studies．

    The next day，I arrived home late．Michael came into my room．

    “I know you are   10   but there's something I want to show you．”he began．Without saying a word，I   11   the paper from him．I really didn't   12   what he was saying．All I wanted was to   13    him and finally get to rest．

    Suddenly，my eyes widened in    14   ．There，he wrote：

    The Seven Wonder of the World

    1．Love  2．Friendship  3．Peace   4．Joy  5．Wisdom    6．Fun  7．Family

    I   15   believe what my brother had written on the paper. I was completely   16 ．How could such an innocent(天真的)little child    17    such things in life?

    The most valuable things in life are the ones that we    18    take for granted．These things don't take the form of big houses or beautiful    19   ．The most wonderful things in the world are immaterial(非物质的)   20   they can never be developed by human art，skill or effort．

1．A．tired                B．experienced          C．talented               D．satisfied

2．A．buying            B．holding                 C．playing                 D．biting

3．A．problem          B．mistake                 C．trouble                    D．homework

4．A events               B．cities                    C．wonders                D．mysteries

5．A paid                  B．attracted                C．applied                  D．fixed

6．A．attention          B．care                     C．love                     D．concern

7．A．before            B．as                        C．since                  D．till

8．A．practical          B．useful                  C．important            D．interesting

9．A．started            B．hated                   C．forgot                 D．continued

10．A．busy             B．bored                   C．free                      D．angry

11．A．handed         B．took                    C．got                      D．accepted

12．A．record          B．worry                  C．mind                    D．share

13．A get on well with                                    B．keep up with          C．make fun of    D．get rid of

14．A．surprise        B．sadness                C．happiness             D．disappointment

15．A．shouldn't       B．needn't                 C．couldn't                D．mustn't

16．A．wounded      B．lost                      C．pleased               D．Confused

17．A．understand    B．remember            C．study                   D．finish

18．A．ever             B．often                   C．seldom                D．never

19．A．voices          B．poems                 C．cars                    D．music

20．A．if                 B．when                   C．but                    D．and

On Sunday while I was having my own Father’s Day celebration, I thought about my dad a lot. By the time I called to tell him that I loved him, he had already gone to bed. So I wrote the following to show what my dad means to me.

About 28 years ago, my dad was a used car salesman. Every Thursday night, he would head off to Shreveport, LA for the auction（拍卖会）. Most of the time, I drove a car over there for him so he could sell it there.

One day, I was riding with my dad to Shreveport for the auction when he found a hitchhiker（搭车者）with a backpack. As soon as dad saw him, he pulled the car over and offered him a ride. Dad asked him his name and continued to talk to him about all sorts of things. I can’t recall why but he told dad a lot of terrible things that had occurred to him. I sat in the back seat and watched the scene with amazement. I could see that the hitchhiker changed his attitude as he could tell someone who was really listening to him.

We drove another forty-five minutes before we had to exit the interstate（州际公路）. We pulled over and dad told him to keep his head up and things would start looking up for him soon. He reached into his pocket and handed the hitchhiker a twenty-dollar bill and then a the-dollar bill.

We drove on and my dad did not say a single thing. I was still completely amazed by what I just witnessed. I was always told everyone to never pick up a hitchhiker and yet my dad did it every single time he saw one. I’m sure that it made that poor man’s day, probably a month to follow.

While reflecting upon that story, I learned a lot about my dad and life. I learned that if you come from a place of service or compassion, you can change people’s lives. Just one single kind act can change someone’s life. It never occurred to my dad about not stopping to help him.

This is the type of person my dad is. Thank you for setting such high standards for me to follow.

Dad, I love you. Happy Father’s Day!

1．The author and his dad met a hitchhiker（搭车者）_______.

A. when they were just warned not to pick up a stranger

B. on their way to Shreveport to sell a car　

C. on their way to the west for a trip　

D. when their car was running out of gas

2．What do we learn about the hitchhiker from the passage?

A. Something unpleasant occurred to him.　

B. He was going to the auction.

C. At first he didn’t believe in the author. 　

D. It was he who bought the author’s car.

3．How did the author feel about his dad’s behavior at that time?

A. Angry　　　 B. Appreciated　　　 C. Surprised　　 　　　 D. Ashamed

4．What did the author learn from his father?

A. Just a single kind act can make a difference.

B. Try learning to be a good listener.

C. Set high standards for yourself in life.

D. Offering a ride to a stranger is dangerous.

Barry was on the phone in his office, speaking with confidence, energy and passion．Outside there was a car waiting．

Just then a tall man in a dark suit   1   the building with a gun．After the man found Barry finished his   2   and hung up, he took out the gun．

Barry reached   3   his pocket to find his key-ring．He selected the car key and reluctantly （不情愿地） handed it   4  ．The man in the suit grabbed （抢去） it   5   walking outside and driving off at a high speed in the   6  ．

John walked in to see Barry just as all of this   7   ．He was surprised at how relaxed and   8  Barry was facing the situation．John was here to collect an unpaid debt．Now John changed his mind．So John and Barry did a deal． 9  Barry would teach him how he could be so   10  in the face of pressure then the   11   would be regarded as paid．

This is what Barry said to him:

The big secret in life is to train your   12   to think only about what you want to happen and to keep your thoughts off what you do not want．Always keep your mind   13   what you really want and think about where you want to be and not   14   you are．Stress is what happens when you put your  15   on the wrong things．

And now over to you．  16   more time each day spotting what you think about, you will likely find that you often run through all the things that could go   17   as well as seeing situations working out as being only OK．

Get into the   18   of expecting things to work out and you will find yourself picturing life running more   19   ．You will then feel more confident, people will   20   to you differently and you will get better results．

1．A．defended               B．alarmed               C．entered                D．fled

2．A．deal                      B．conversation        C．speech                D．contact

3．A．for                       B．out                      C．up                      D．into

4．A．over                     B．in                        C．out                     D．up

5．A．after                     B．before                 C．when                  D．as

6．A．office                   B．building               C．car                     D．suit

7．A．was happening       B．happened             C．happen                D．was happened

8．A．confident              B．anxious               C．generous             D．embarrassed

9．A．When                   B．If                        C．As                      D．While

10．A．anxious               B．concerned           C．cool                    D．upset

11．A．car                      B．gun                     C．debt                    D．building

12．A．idea                    B．mind                   C．thought               D．view

13．A．deciding              B．shaping               C．forming               D．picturing

14．A．when                  B．why                    C．that                     D．where

15．A．stress                  B．attention              C．effort                  D．effect

16．A．Take                   B．Cost                    C．Spend                 D．Pay

17．A．right                   B．wrong                 C．smooth               D．bad

18．A．habit                   B．form                   C．chance                D．routine

19．A．carefully              B．completely          C．smoothly             D．confidently

20．A．listen                  B．respond               C．appeal                 D．adapt