One afternoon, I went to pick up my mother from work.I got there a little early, so I _______ (41) my car by a small park, and _______ (42) for her.

As I looked outside the car window, I saw a little boy, around two years old, running _______ (43) on the grass as his mother _______ (44) from a short distance. The boy had a big smile on his face as if he had just been ______ (45) free from some sort of prison .The boy would then fall to the grass , (46) up , without looking back at his mother , run as_______ (47) as he could ,again , still with a smile on his face ,as if nothing had happened .

At that moment, I thought to myself , “why aren’t most adults this way ?” Most adults, when they fall down, make a big deal out of it and don’t even _______ (48) a second attempt. They would be so _______ (49) that they would not try again if someone saw them fall .Or , because they fall , they would find a good _______ (50) for themselves that they’re not fit for it . They would end up too afraid to attempt again for fear of failure.

However, with kids, when they fall down, they don’t consider their falling down as a failure, instead, they treat it as a _______ (51) experience. They try again and again until they _______ (52) .The answer must be that they have not connected“falling down” with the word “failure”. As a _______ (53), they are not discouraged in any way .Besides, they _______ (54) think to themselves that it’s quite okay to fall down and that it’s not wrong to do so. In other words ,they allow themselves to make _______ (55), so they remain energetic.

I was deeply impressed by the boy’s persistence (坚持不懈) and the manner in which he did.

41. A. left            B. stopped      C. repaired    D. drove

42. A. waited          B. cared            C. prepared     D. looked

43. A. carefully       B. anxiously        C. freely           D. easily

44. A. watched        B. noticed      C. surveyed     D. supported

45. A. cut         B. kept             C. found        D. set

46. A. hold            B. get          C. end          D. pick

47. A. well            B. long             C. fast         D. soon

48. A. make            B. provide      C. practice         D. discover

49. A. confused        B. embarrassed  C. exhausted        D. surprised

50. A. cause       B. sign             C. chance       D. excuse

51. A. learning        B. running      C. teaching         D. falling

52. A. progress        B. improve      C. achieve      D. succeed

53. A. decision        B. result           C. reason       D. matter

54. A. hardly      B. perfectly        C. probably         D. nearly

55. A. mistakes    B. choices      C. plans            D. wishes

To most of us, school means classes, teachers, schedules, grades and tests. But for the children at Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, school is very different.

Firstly, there are no lessons. All the children, aged between 4 and 19, do whatever they want. There are no teachers, only “staff members”. The idea behind this is that you do not need to make children learn, because children want to learn anyway. “You do not need to say to a three-year-old, ‘Go explore your environment.’ You can’t stop them!”says Daniel Greenberg, a founder of the school. “But if you make children do what you want all day… they will lose all taste of learning.” At Sudbury Valley School, you will find children talking, reading, painting, cooking, working on computers, studying French, playing the piano, climbing trees, or just running around. Two boys spent three years just fishing!
The other way that Sudbury Valley School is different is that the children can decide the rules. Every week, there is a school meeting where both children and staff have one vote (投票)each—even the four-year-olds. They decide the school rules, how to spend the school money, and even which staff they want and do not want anymore.
When the school first opened in 1968, people said it would never work. But today, the school has 200 students, and 80% of its students go on to college. Even the two boys who went fishing all the time have successful careers today. One of them is a musician and the other is a computer scientist.
【小题1】What's special about the school?

A．There is nobody but students there.

B．All the students are of the same age.

C．There are no classes for the students.

D．There are no rules in the school.

【小题2】What do the students do in the school?

A．They learn everything there from the staff members.

B．They grow up there without learning anything.

C．They spend all the time with their parents.

D．They do whatever they are interested in.

【小题3】The school seems to believe that children________.

A．learn best when they are doing what they want

B．are too young to learn anything by themselves

C．can look after themselves without any help

D．can't go to college without any hard work

【小题4】The last paragraph wants to tell us that_         .

A．the writer doesn't like the idea of the school

B．the school is quite successful in its work

C．most of the parents don't believe in the school

D．younger students learn better there than older ones

【小题5】The underlined word career in the last paragraph most probably means_.
A. family   B. money    C. lifestyle   d. job

One day, a boy found the cocoon(茧) of a butterfly and brought it home. A few days later, the boy saw a small ___16___in the cocoon. He sat and watched for several hours as a butterfly struggled to make ___17___body through that little hole. Suddenly it stopped.
So the boy ___18___to help the butterfly, thinking the butterfly might be ___19___. He took a pair of scissors(剪刀) and cut the hole ___20___. The butterfly came out of the cocoon, but it ___21___a little different. It had a weak body and small, thin ___22___. The butterfly didn’t start to fly. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling(爬行) around with a weak body and thin wings. It was never able to fly.
The boy acted with___23___but he didn’t understand why it could be like this. When a butterfly crawl out of the cocoon, it must struggle. The hard work of ___24___out of the cocoon makes the fluid(液体) from the butterfly’s body into its wings. It helps the butterfly be ___25___to fly. If the butterfly never has to squeeze(挤压) itself out of the cocoon, its wings will never get the fluid and it can never fly.
___26___struggles are what we need in our lives. If we lived our lives without any problems, we would never learn or grow. We would not be ___27___ we could have been and we would never fly.
In our lives, pain and suffering is the key to all windows, and sometimes even ___28___ growth, without it, there’s no way of life. We can’t avoid ___29___ or problems. So, next time you are ___30___ a problem or difficulty, remember the butterfly. Struggle a little–then fly!

【小题1】

A．hole B．worm C．tail D．snake

【小题2】

A．it B．it’s C．itself D．its

【小题3】

A．decided B．asked C．showed D．ordered

【小题4】

A．afraid B．interested C．surprised D．grateful

【小题5】

A．slimmer B．bigger C．shorter D．smaller

【小题6】

A．touched B．sounded C．looked D．smelt

【小题7】

A．wings B．feet C．eyes D．head

【小题8】

A．success B．excitement C．kindness D．humour

【小题9】

A．get B．getting C．to get D．got

【小题10】

A．ready B．quiet C．glad D．used

【小题11】

A．Somewhere B．Something C．Some time D．Sometimes

【小题12】

A．as helpful as B．as weak as C．as strong as D．as creative as

【小题13】

A．repeats B．recommends C．requires D．represents

【小题14】

A．happiness B．difficulties C．pleasure D．hope

【小题15】

A．served with B．growing into C．bringing in D．faced with

One day, a boy found the cocoon(茧) of a butterfly and brought it home. A few days later, the boy saw a small ___31___ in the cocoon. He sat and watched for several hours as a butterfly struggled to make ___32___ body through that little hole. Suddenly it stopped.
So the boy ___33___ to help the butterfly, thinking the butterfly might be___34___  .He took a pair of scissors(剪刀) and cut the hole ___35___  .The butterfly came out of the cocoon but it ___36___ a little different. It had a weak body and small, thin ___37___  .The butterfly didn’t start to fly. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling(爬行) around with a weak body and thin wings. It was never able to fly.
The boy acted with___38___  but he didn’t understand why it could be like this. When a butterfly crawls out of the cocoon, it must struggle. The hard work of ___39___  out of the cocoon makes the fluid(液体) from the butterfly’s body into its wings. It helps the butterfly be___40___ to fly. If the butterfly never has to squeeze(挤压) itself out of the cocoon, its wings will never get the fluid and it can never fly.___41___ struggles are what we need in our lives. If we lived our lives without any problems, we would never learn or grow. We would not be ___42___ as we could have been and we would never fly.
In our lives, pain and suffering is the key to all windows, and sometimes even ___43___ growth, without it , there’s no way of life. We can’t avoid ___44___  or problems. So, next time you are ___45___ a problem or difficulty, remember the butterfly. Struggle a little----then fly!

【小题1】

A．hole B．worm C．tall D．snake

【小题2】

A．it B．it’s C．itself D．its

【小题3】

A．decided B．asked C．showed D．ordered

【小题4】

A．afraid B．interested C．surprised D．grateful

【小题5】

A．slimmer B．bigger C．shorter D．smaller

【小题6】

A．touched B．sounded C．looked D．smelt

【小题7】

A．wings B．feet C．eyes D．head

【小题8】

A．success B．excitement C．kindness D．humor

【小题9】

A．get B．getting C．to get D．got

【小题10】

A．ready B．quiet C．glad D．used

【小题11】

A．Somewhere B．Something C．Some time D．Sometimes

【小题12】

A．as helpful B．as weak C．as strong D．as creative

【小题13】

A．repeats B．recommends C．requires D．represents

【小题14】

A．happiness B．difficulties C．pleasure D．hope

【小题15】

A．served with B．growing into C．bringing in D．faced with

One of the most popular items(项目) in the school newspaper is the advice column. No one knows who writes it. The students think their teacher does, but it might be a student using a false name.
The students enjoy thinking up problems for the advice column. Here are some of them and their answers.
Ask the Wise Owl
Q: I’m always late for school. I try not to be, but I can’t help it. Please advise me what to do. Tommy.
A: You are probably late for school because you don’t really like school. My advice to you is to try and enjoy school more, then you won’t be late so often.
Q: I find it difficult to make friends. What do you think I should do? Sara.
A: I can’t advise you until I know more about you. Your problem may be that you are shy. On the other hand, it may be the opposite. You may be too bold(冒失). Write and tell me more about yourself.
Q: I’m always at the bottom(底部，末尾) of the class. What do you advise me to do? Molly.
A: I advise you to concentrate on(全神贯注) improving your grades in one subject to start with. If you can do this, you should move a little way up from the bottom. Next, try to improve your grades in another subject, and so on. If you concentrate on one subject at a time, by the end of the year you should be quite a long way up from the bottom in all your classes.
【小题1】What is Tommy’s problem?

A．He needs help with his homework.

B．He finds it difficult to make friends.

C．He is always late for school.

D．He is always at the bottom of his class.

【小题2】What does Molly want to do?

A．To stay at the bottom of her classes.

B．To make more friends.

C．To concentrate on one subject at a time.

D．To improve her grades.

【小题3】What does the Wise Owl want Sara to do?

A．Give more information about herself.

B．Stop being so shy.

C．Make more friends.

D．Stop being so bold.

【小题4】By the end of the year, where should Molly be in all her classes?

A．At the top.

B．Quite a long way up from the bottom.

C．At the bottom.

D．A little way up from the bottom.

【小题5】What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Sara finds it difficult to make friends.

B．Tommy wrote to the school newspaper to ask for advice.

C．The advice column in the school newspaper is very popular.

D．The school newspaper has an advice column.