An old woman had two large pots, one on each end of a pole. She carried the pole with the pots across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full pot of water. At the end of the long walk from the well to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half-full.
For two years this happened daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection.
One day, the cracked pot spoke to the woman by the well: “I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”
The old woman smiled: “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your crack, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. And every day while we walk back, you water them.”
“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, I would not have this beauty.”
Each of us has our own cracks. But it’s these cracks that make our lives together so interesting and meaningful.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “crack” mean?

A．Very narrow space between two things or two parts of something.

B．Line of division where something is broken, but not into separate parts.

C．Fault in an idea, system, or organization.

D．Sudden sharp noise like the sound of a stick being broken.

【小题2】How did the cracked pot feel about itself at first?

A．Proud.

B．Disappointed.

C．Annoyed.

D．Embarrassed.

【小题3】Where were the flowers growing?

A．On both sides of the path.	B．In the woman’s house.
C．On the perfect pot’s side of the path.	D．On the cracked pot’s side of the path

【小题4】Which is the correct order of the following events?
① The woman picked the flowers and decorated the table.
② The woman told the truth to the cracked pot.
③ The cracked pot talked to the woman about its crack.
④ The woman found a crack on one pot.
⑤ The woman planted some flower seeds.

A．④⑤①③②	B．⑤④③②①
C．④③①②⑤	D．④⑤③①②

【小题5】What does the passage mainly want to tell us?

A．Never laugh at imperfection.	B．No pains, no gains.
C．Imperfection makes life meaningful.	D．It’s never too late to learn.

 Did you notice the little boy __________ away?

A. took the candy and run             B. take the candy and run

C. taking the candy and run            D. who taking the candy running

 

Paul was dealing with a crisis. The new girl Linda in class really liked him a lot. Paul was not happy about it.

    Paul's good friend, Sam, tried to comfort him.  "What's the big deal? I think Linda is kind of cute and nice enough."

    Paul glared at Sam. "Then why don't you ask her to be your girlfriend? There she is, sitting all by herself at the other end of the cafeteria. Go there and ask her to be your honey!"

    "She's crazy about you, not me," Sam replied.

    "Well, I don't want any girlfriend, especially not a girl like her! "Paul growled.

    Sam wouldn't give up.  "The only thing pesky about her is that she keeps writing you those notes ."

    "I don't like notes at all!" Paul interrupted. He took another sip of milk.

"Did you notice those strange brown eyes? Why aren't they normal red or pink?"

    Sam took another look at Linda. "I think her face is a lovely shade of green. And her dark green curly hair is quite pretty. Besides, she's very gentle and that's what really matters."

    Paul stuck out his tongue. "I think I'm going to be sick!  I'd better save my dessert for later." He crammed a small bag of Maggot Munchies into his even smaller shirt pocket.  "The fact is, I have a problem. That girl is getting on my nerves!  "

    Sam followed Paul’s example and decided to save his dessert for later. However, he carefully placed the bag into his lunch box.  "Do you have any ideas about how to solve your problem?" Tremor asked.

    "I'm going to be mean and rude to her," Paul announced.  "I'll call her names and make ugly faces at her."

    "That's how you treat everyone," Sam reminded his friend.

Paul nodded. "It's time that Linda got to know the real Paul !"

1. What does the underlined part "a crisis" in Paragraph 1 refer to?

    A. how to get away from Linda             B. how to win Linda over

    C. how to get Sam's help                  D. how to save money

2.How did Linda feel about Paul ?

    A. She didn't like him because he was rude.       B. She was annoyed by his strange appearance.

    C. She didn't have any strong feelings about him.   D. She fell in love with him.

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

    A. Paul pretended to be rude in order to make Linda stop liking him.

    B. Sam thought that looks were more important than personality.

    C. Sam thought that Linda was cute.

    D. Paul offered his dessert to Linda to make her sick.

4. Sam appreciate Linda in the following aspects EXCEPT         

    A. her eyes         B. her hair           C. her face          D. her character

5.What is implied from this passage?

A. Linda will be Sam's girlfriend.       B. Paul has fallen in love with another girl.

C. Paul and Linda are classmates.      D. Paul and Linda are colleges students.

 

对话填空（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）

W： Hi, Fred．Where have you been?

M： I’ve been to the l_____76_____ and borrowed some English books．What’s wrong?

W： I t____77______ you’d been to the post office．Did you notice the money I left on the desk?

M： Yes, $10 altogether．But I didn’t know what it was f____78___．

W： Didn’t you see the note I left you with the money?

M： Note? What note? I didn’t see any note．

W： R____79______? That’s very strange．I left the money with a note saying I wanted you to go to the post office and get some e____80_______ and stamps for me．I also put the ink bottle on them in case they might not draw your a_____81________．

M： I see now．Why can’t you go and get them y_____82______? The post office is only about 30 minutes’ walk from here．We often walk there after supper．

W： Of course I know how far it is from school．I can’t go there myself because I’m very busy doing some chemistry e______83_________ in the lab．And what’s more, I have to p_____84______ for my English exam．You know I f___85______ the last one．If I can’t pass this time, a hard time will be waiting for me．

A good friend of mine was complaining about her son the other day．“Did you notice,” she started, “how he didn’t wait for me to get my salad before he dove into his?”

       True enough, the boy attacked his plate faster than a cat in the wild．Without manners, we’re no more than animals．Actually, that’s not true．I’ve been watching and feeding a group of wild cats, and they show unusual politeness toward each other．Even when food is scarce, they take turns, leaving at least a small part for the next in line．

       My mother educated her three children to have good manners all the time．We were made to feel very uncomfortable as if we were sitting on pins and needles until we got used to saying please, thank you, pardon me, and I’m sorry．And I have to say, while it was a painful learning experience, it was one of the most valuable．

       I can’t tell you how often I sat with my friends, eating at their dinner tables, and their parents thought highly of my good manners．While it was a little embarrassing, I knew even then that my mother’s teachings were paying off．

       Many years later, when I was attending seminars across the country, my manners were quite useful．

       While I regret that I haven’t been a perfect example, I’m still working on it．I suppose, in this regard, my mother lives on through me．I didn’t have her beautiful singing voice or her green eyes, but she did make sure I received one of her finest characteristics．

What did the writer’s friend most probably complain about?

       A．Her son’s eating too quickly．           

       B．Her son’s not having a healthy diet．

       C．Her son’s not having good table manners． 

       D．Teenagers’ not having good manners．

The underlined word “scarce” in Paragraph 3 probably means “________”．

       A．too much                B．not delicious       

       C．not enough       D．quite hot

We learn that the writer’s mother __________．

       A．was strict about her children’s manners    

       B．never punished her children

       C．had beautiful blue eyes                  

       D．was not good at singing

What does the writer think of her experience of learning good manners?

       A．Easy and relaxing                     B．Painful and valuable

       C．Easy but useless               D．Too horrible

We can infer from the passage that the writer _________．

       A．is surely liked by everyone around her

       B．is not satisfied with most people’s manners around her

       C．thinks she has been a perfect example to the young

       D．thanks her mother for teaching her the good manners a lot