The sun was shining as Kevin walked to the old bench（长凳） where he met Mike every afternoon after school．They were good friends and loved to play football．They didn’t have enough money to buy a real football, but Mike had made a ball out of old socks covered with a piece of plastic．It wasn’t beautiful, but it worked well．The two friends didn’t stop kicking and running until very late.

    The next afternoon, Mike and Kevin met again at the old bench．Soon the home-made ball was spinning（旋转） across the grass as the boys laughed and shouted happily．The ball was stopped by a boy wearing a nice pair of sneakers（运动鞋）．Kevin was upset when he saw it was Steven.

   The next morning, Kevin’s mother gave him an envelope（信封）．“Your uncle sent you a birthday present,” she smiled．Kevin’s eyes grew big when he saw the $100 bill．Later that day, a pair of new sneaker lay next to his chair, and in the corner, a real football.

    The next afternoon, Steven invited Kevin to play football on the field next to the library．Steven did not want Mike to join them only because Mike’s sneakers were dirty and he was not good at football．When the game was over, Kevin and Steven walked past the old bench where Mike was sitting．Steven picked up a stone and threw it at him．Kevin, holding his new football in his hands, walked on and did not look back.

    One afternoon, as Kevin walked past the old bench, he saw something lying under it．He looked closer and saw it was the home-made ball．Kevin was full of sorrow at the sight of his old home-made ball, and he let out a sad sigh（叹气）．As his sadness turned to anger, he picked up his new football and kicked it into the air．Kevin kicked it so hard that it flew past the library and over the school gate．Then Kevin walked to the bench and picked up his home-made ball．Holding it in his hands, Kevin sat down and waited.

1．The best title for this passage is ______.

      A．A Home-Made Football                  B．Playing Football

       C．Two Close Friends                D．A New Football

When I was growing up. I had an old neighbor named Dr, Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never  1  at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone nice and  2  .

       When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving  3  , he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres（英亩）, and his life’s  4  was to make it a forest.

      But he  5  watered his new trees. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants would 6  them, and that  7  you water them, each following  8  of tree will grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things  9  for them.

He’d planted an oak, and instead of watering it every morning, he’d  10   it with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to cause the tree’s  11  .

       Dr. Gibbs went away a couple of years ago. 12 , I walk by his house and look at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re big and  13  now. Sufferings seemed to  14  them in ways ease and  15  never could ways.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be  16 . But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to  17  my prayer, because life is 18  , whether we want it to be or  not. Too many times we pray for ease. But that’s what we seldom  19  . What we need to do is pray for roots that reach deep into the earth, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be  20  .

1．A．smiled                   B．shouted               C．looked                 D．kicked

2．A．cold                      B．lonely                  C．mild                    D．careful

3．A．money                  B．lives                    C．flowers               D．energy

4．A．goal                      B．way                    C．attitude                D．theory

5．A．regularly               B．sometimes           C．never                  D．always

6．A．remove                 B．benefit                 C．drown                 D．spoil

7．A．if                          B．unless                 C．although              D．since

8．A．kind                      B．group                  C．rank                    D．generation

9．A．rough                   B．free                     C．available              D．poisonous

10．A．protected             B．tied                     C．beat                    D．wrapped

11．A．thank                  B．defense               C．shade                  D．death

12．A．More or less        B．Now and then      C．Sooner or later     D．Here and there

13．A．thin                     B．dying                  C．ripe                     D．strong

14．A．benefit                B．harm                   C．affect                  D．change

15．A．cure                    B．danger                 C．comfort              D．difficulty

16．A．interesting           B．colorful               C．easy                    D．hopeful

17．A．strengthen           B．change                C．repeat                 D．realize

18．A．tough                  B．helpless               C．various                D．valuable

19．A．seek                    B．prove                  C．share                  D．meet

20．A．challenged   B．defeated           C．missed            D．forgotten