A

On the first day of the 11th grade, our new math teacher Mr Washington asked me to go to the blackboard to do a math problem. I told him that I couldn’t do it. He asked, “Why not?” I paused, and then I said, “Because I’m educable mentally retarded (可教育智能迟滞).”

He came from behind his desk and looked at me. “Don’t ever say that again. Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality,” he said.

It was a very special moment for me. Doctors said that I was educable mentally retarded in the fifth grade, and I was put back into the fourth grade. When I was in the eighth grade, I failed again.

But Mr Washington changed my life. This person always gave students the feeling that he had high expectations of them, and then all of the students did their best to live up to what those expectations were. He often said, “You have greatness within you.”

One day, I caught up with him in the parking place and said, “Mr Washington, is there greatness within me, sir?”

He said, “Yes, Mr Brown.”

“But what about the fact that I failed English, math, and history? What about that, sir? I’m slower than most kids.”

“It doesn’t matter. It just means that you have to work harder. Your grades don’t determine who you are or what you can produce in your life.”

“I want to buy my mother a house.”

“It is possible, Mr Brown. You can do that.” And he turned to walk away.

“Mr Washington?”

“What do you want now?”

“Uh, I’m the one, sir. One day you’re going to hear my name. I’m the one, sir.”

School was a real struggle for me. Mr Washington put many demands on me. He made me believe that I could do it. At the end of that year, I was on the honor roll for the first time in my life.

Years later, I produced five programs on public television. When one of my programs was shown on the educational television channel, I had some friends call him. I was sitting by the phone waiting when he called me. He said, “May I speak to Mr Brown, please?”

“Oh, Mr Washington, is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me. You were the one, weren’t you?”

“Yes, sir, I was.”

1.What does Mr Washington mean by saying “Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality”?

A．You needn’t have the same opinion as others.

B．You should believe what other people say.

C．What other people say about you may not be correct.

D．The doctor made a mistake.

2. What happened to the author at last?

A．He entered a good university.              B．He earned much honor.

C．He got a good job.                       D．He made television programs.

3. In the passage, the author implies that _________.

A．people shouldn’t believe what doctors say

B．no one can be successful with hard work and confidence

C．no one is really educable mentally retarded

D．a good teacher can change a student’s life

4.The best title for the passage would be “__________”.

A．Don’t believe others                   B．I am the one

C．My best teacher                        D．I succeeded at last

 

It was a sunny day. A city man was driving along a country road with a new wagon（马车）and a beautiful pair of horses. He didn’t pay a lot of  16  to where he was going. Pretty soon he  17_ that he was lost, but he continued to drive, expecting to re-find his way or to  18  someone who could tell him how to get back to the  19  .

    It was a long  20  road. For many __21__ he kept on driving. When it was almostdark ，he saw in a field a tall  22   ploughing（犁地） the land. He stopped his   23  team of horses near the fence and called out，“Hello，farmer.”

    “Hello，yourself，”the farmer___24____，still ploughing .

    “Where does the horse go？”he asked without knowing his language mistakes.

    “I haven’t seen it go anywhere. It   25   stays right where it is，”said the farmer，without stopping his work.

    “How far is it to the next town？” said the city man，speaking a little more   26  .

    “Don’t know. I never　   27  it,” replied the farmer. By this time the city man was getting 28  .“What do you know？You’re the biggest fool I ever saw.”

Finally stopping, the farmer turned and looked for a long time  29  at the city man. Then he said，“Maybe I don’t know much.   30   I am a fool. But at least I’m not lost！” 

1.A. signs            B. orders            C. attention            D. direction

2.A. realized        B. recognized    C. accepted           D. received

3.A. miss             B. meet             C. look                  D. lose

4.A. town            B. country          C. capital             D. village

5.A. lonely          B. busy              C. dirty               D. crowded

6.A seconds      B. minutes      C hours          D years

7.A. driver           B. policeman      C. farmer            D. worker

8.A. strong           B. tired              C. weak               D. tiring

9.A. asked           B. demanded       C. replied           D. ordered

10.A. always          B. often             C. sometimes        D. seldom

11.A .politely      B. friendly        C. loudly          D. angrily

12.A. judged          B. measured        C. saw                D. studied

13.A. sad              B. lovely            C. friendly           D. angry

14.A. gladly          B. immediately     C. silently         D. excitedly

15.A. Generally      B.  Fortunately     C. Certainly         D. Perhaps 

 

Obama Still Smokes in Secret

US President Barack Obama has just made life more difficult for cigarette makers．He has just signed a law that will set tough new rules for the tobacco industry．The new law gives the US Food and Drug Administration the power to strictly limit the making and marketing of tobacco products．

At a White House signing ceremony Monday, Obama said that he was among the nearly 90% of smokers who took up the habit before their 18 th birthday．

Obama, who has publicly struggled to give up smoking, said he still hadn’t completely kicked the habit．Every now and then he still smokes in secret．

“As a former smoker I struggle with it all the time．Do I still smoke sometimes? Yes．Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No．” Obama said at a news conference．

“I don' t do it in front of my lads．I don’t do it in front of my family．I would say that I am 95% cured, but there are times when I mess up, " he said．

"Once you go down this path, it' s something you continually struggle with, which is exactly why the law is so important．The new law is not about me, it' s about the next generation of kids coming up．What we don ' t want is kids going down that path," he said．

Nearly 20% of Americans smoke and tobacco use kills about 440,000 people a year in the United States due to cancer, heart disease, and other serious diseases．

1.The new law makes life difficult for             ．

A．Obama                               B．tobacco industry

C．White House                           D．US Food and Drug Administration

2.What do we know about Obama?

A．He no longer smokes．

B．He still smokes as usual．

C．He began to smoke at eighteen．

D．He is trying hard to give up smoking．

3.According to the passage, Obama is most concerned about           ．

A．children          B．officials           C．his family          D．businessmen

 

After The Super Girl was shown on TV, it was loved by millions of people, especially the young people. It becomes a hot topic among people. Here are some of their opinions

China is a developing country and women now show their abilities as freely as men do. The modern world is a stage for them to show who they are and what they want.

                                  —Nancy , 14     The Super Girls

One of the girls looks like Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) . In Singapore, a show of this kind is called Superstar. I think the competition like this is a good chance for the young girls with the dreams of stage. As for The Super Girl, I hope I can see one international super star coming out from this year's competition .

                                  —Linda , 16

I am worried about these super girls. They are educated in different ways. At their ages, they should be spending more time at school , not on the stage. What are they learning? And for what?

                                  —John , 15

What do people think about The Super Girl ?

A. It was loved by all the people       B. Different people have different ideas

C. All the young people enjoyed it very much    D. It is not popular among people

Linda hopes to see           from The Super Girl.

A. a show called Superstar in Singapore    B. a girl with the name of Jolin Tsai

    C. an international superstar coming out    D. some young girls with dreams of the stage

John worries about the super girls because these girls           .

    A. don't spend enough time studying at school  B. spend too much time studying at school    C. show their abilities in their free time         D. are educated in the same way

Steve Jobs on life and death

When I was 17, I read a quote （引述） that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, some day you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an   1  on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every   2  and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”  And whenever the    3  has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to   4  something.

Remembering that I’ll be   5  soon is the most important tool I’ve ever used to help me make the big   6  in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all   7  of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is   8  important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to   9 . You are already naked. There is no reason not to   10  your heart.

Your time is limited, so don’t   11  it living someone else’s life. Don’t be   12  by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the   13  to follow your beliefs and goals. They somehow already know what you really want to   14 . Everything else is   15 .

1.                A．expectation     B．impression      C．imagination    D．examination

 

2.                A．minute         B．night           C．day  D．week

 

3.                A．answer         B．solution         C．result    D．chance

 

4.                A．accept         B．hide           C．change   D．avoid

 

5.                A．famous         B．dead           C．old  D．forgotten

 

6.                A．decisions       B．contributions    C．differences    D．mistakes

 

7.                A．understanding   B．certainty        C．fear D．knowledge

 

8.                A．mostly         B．hardly          C．nearly    D．truly

 

9.                A．take           B．lose            C．give D．win

 

10.               A．break          B．catch          C．warm D．follow

 

11.               A．waste          B．imagine        C．spend D．risk

 

12.               A．confused       B．trapped        C．discouraged    D．hurt

 

13.               A．wisdom        B．idea           C．desire D．courage

 

14.               A．see            B．show          C．become   D．forget

 

15.               A．necessary       B．natural         C．secondary D．possible