When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.

It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie’s basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.

“Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint.” She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted bit stripes (条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!

The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn’t wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother’s face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.

My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, “What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors’ trees, but this! Come inside right now!” I stood there glaring hack at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art. 

“Now go clean it up!” Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.  

Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful.

1.What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?

      A. To introduce Stephanie to her.             B. To prevent her from seeing his painting. 

      C. To put the materials back in the yard.       D. To show his artwork to her.

2. In his mother’s eyes, the writer_______.

      A. was a born artist                        B. always caused trouble

      C. was a problem solver                    D. worked very hard

3.The underlined word “rainbow” in the last paragraph refers to ______.

      A. the rainbow in the sky                   B. the stripes on the pavement

      C. something imaginative and fun            D. important lessons learned in childhood

4.It can be learned from the passage that parents should ________.

      A. encourage children to paint               B. value friendship among children

      C. discover the hidden talent in children       D. protect rather than destroy children’s dreams

 

One day while shopping in a small town in southern California，it was my misfortune to be approached by a clerk whose personality conflicted with mine. He seemed most unfriendly and not at all concerned about my intended purchase. I bought nothing，and marched angrily out of the store. My hostility（敌意） toward that clerk increased with each step.

On the outside，standing by the road，was a dark­skinned young man in his early twenties. His expressive brown eyes met and held mine，and in the next instant a beautiful, dazzling（给人印象深刻的） smile covered his face. I gave way immediately. The magnetic（磁力的） power of that smile dissolved （溶解）all bitterness within me，and I found the muscles in my own face happily responding（回应）.

“Beautiful day，isn't it？”I remarked，in passing. Then，I turned back.“I really owe you a debt of gratitude（感谢），”I said softly.

His smile deepened, but he made no attempt to answer．A Mexican woman and two men were standing nearby．The woman stepped forward and volunteered, "Sir, but he doesn't speak English．Do you want me to tell him something?" In that moment I felt transformed（改变）．The young man's smile had made a big person of me．My friendliness and good will toward all mankind stood ten feet tall．

"Thank you?" The woman seemed slightly puzzled．

I gave her arm a friendly pat as I turned to leave．"Just tell him that," I insisted．"He'll understand．I am sure !"

Oh, what a smile can do! Although I have never seen that young man again, I shall never forget the lesson he taught me that morning．From that day on, I became smile-conscious, and I practice the art anywhere and everywhere, with everybody．

1.Why did the author leave the store angrily?

A．The clerk treated him unkindly．           B．He couldn't buy what he wanted．

C．The clerk didn't speak English．            D．The store's goods were too dear．

2.By saying "I felt the muscles（肌肉） in my own face happily responding" （in Paragraph 2）, the author means __.

A．he was still angry                        B．he did not want to smile

C．he would thank the young man             D．he smiled back at the young man

3.The author asked the woman to say "Thank you!" to the young man because the young man_____.

A．had helped the author before              B．taught the author how to smile

C．was a kind employee of the store           D．taught the author a valuable lesson

4.In the passage, the author seems to suggest that we should __   ___.

A．be generous to strangers                 B．practice smiling every day

C．smile at other people                    D．help people in trouble

 

 

第II卷

第一节:单词拼写(共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)

根据下列句子及所给单词的首字母，写出单词的正确形式（每空限写一词）。

1. They are to put on an e_____________ of French paintings in the Oriental Hall next week.

2. My father used to smoke a lot but he has q___________ smoking since last year.

3. It is a_____________ true that the sun rises in the east.     

4. She has received formal keyboard training. C_____________, she can type much faster than I.

5. Can you t_____________ this English poem into Chinese?

6. The a___________ temperature in summer in Quzhou is about 20℃. 

7. The soldier was awarded a medal for his b____________ in the war.

8. The temperature is above n_____________ all over the world and it’s time we took measures.

9. Who is to b____________ for the fire in the kitchen?

10. I felt n___________ and uncertain because it was my first travel abroad.

 

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．

1.What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 ?

  A．Many people aren’t clever enough to learn well from the past．

  B．Many people fail to make good use of history and make the same mistakes．

  C．Many people feel it hard to understand history．

  D．Many people have no interest in studying history．

2.In Paragraph 3，the author shows that history is useful because

  A．it makes the current political situation go smoothly

  B．it helps us realize the importance of historical events

  C．it helps us understand why things are the way they are

  D．it helps people accept the present situation where they live

3.Some historical figures are mentioned in the last paragraph to show____．

  A．people can be inspired to do good and also learn to fight against evil

  B．people may also learn from bad historical figures

  C．more celebrations should be held to honor their achievements

  D．today’s people can also achieve what they achieved

4.What would be talked about in the following paragraph?

  A．How to teach history effectively．

  B．Some negative reasons for studying history．

  C．How to get more people to study history．

  D．Some bad historical figures．

 

I began working in journalism when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.

         With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was supper time, I walked back home.

         “How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.

         “None.”

         “Where did you go?”

         “The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”

         “What did you do?”

         “Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”

         “You just stood there?”

         “Didn’t sell a single one.”

         “My God, Russell!”

         Uncle Allen put in, “Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickle(五分镍币). It was the first nickle I earned.

         Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.

         One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.

         “If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.

         My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.

41．Why did the boy start his job young?

         A．He wanted to be famous in the future 

B．The job was quite easy for him.

         C．His mother had high hopes for him.  

D．The competition for the job was fierce.

42．From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.

         A．excited       B．interested        C．ashamed D．disappointed

43．What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?

         A．She forced him to continue.      B．She punished him.

         C．She gave him some money.           D．She changed her plan.

44．The phrase “this battle”in the last paragraph refers to       .

         A．the war between the boy’s parents

         B．the arguing between the boy and his mother

         C．the quarrel between the boy and his customers

         D．the fight between the boy and his father

45．What is the text mainly about?

         A．The early life of a journalist.         

B．The early success of a journalist.

         C．The happy childhood of the writer.  

D．The important role of the writer in his family.