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 yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

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

　　The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on.

He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

　　So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

　　Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship..

According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they______

    A. are lack of care   B. are watered   C. are weeded out    D. are beaten

.According to Para.3 and Pare.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’moto（座右铭）may be_____

     A. “seeing is believing”        B.“Put everything in proper use”

     C. ”Practice makes perfect”     D. “No pains, no gains”

.The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means______

      A. strong         B. strange         C. deep        D. old

Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now ?

  A. I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

  B.I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

  C.I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

  D.I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

   A. A Nice Doctor                      B. The Deep Roots  

C. Adversity and Suffering              D. My Childhood Memory

An old problem is getting new attention in the United States—bullying．Recent cases included the tragic case of a fifteen-year-old girl whose family moved from Ireland．She hanged herself in Massachusetts in January following months of bullying．Her parents criticized her school for failing to protect her．Officials have brought criminal charges against several teenagers．

Judy Kaczynski is president of an anti-bullying group called Bully Police USA．Her daughter Tina was the victim of severe bullying starting in middle school in the state of Minnesota．She said, "Our daughter was a very outgoing child．She was a bubbly personality, very involved in all kinds of things, had lots of friends．And over a period of time her grades fell completely．She started having health issues．She couldn't sleep．She wasn't eating．She had terrible stomach pains．She started clenching her jaw and grinding her teeth at night．Didn't want to go to school．"

Bullying is defined as negative behavior repeated over time against the same person． It can involve physical violence．Or it can be verbal — for example, insults or threats．Spreading lies about someone or excluding a person from a group is known as social or relational bullying．

And now there is cyberbullying, which uses the Internet, e-mail or text messages．It has easy appeal for the bully because it does not involve face-to-face contact and it can be done at any time．

The first serious research studies into bullying were done in Norway in the late 1970s．The latest government study in the United States was released last year．It found that about one-third of students age twelve to eighteen were bullied at school．

Susan Sweater is a psychologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and co-director of the Bullying Research Network．She says schools should treat bullying as a mental health problem to get bullies and victims the help they need．She says bullying is connected to depression, anxiety and anti-social behavior, and bullies are often victims themselves．

From the case of Tina, we can know that            ．

         A．bullying is rare                     B．victims suffered a lot

         C．schools are to blame                   D．personalities are related

Which of the following is NOT bullying?

         A．To beat someone repeatedly．                  B．To call someone names．

         C．To isolate someone from friends．  D．To refuse to help someone in need．

Why is cyberbullying appealing to the bully?

         A．Because it can involve more people．      B．Because it can create worse effects．

         C．Because it is more convenient．               D．Because it can avoid cheating．

According to Susan Sweater,           ．

         A．bullies are anti-social                            B．bullies should give victims help

         C．students are not equally treated      D．bullies themselves also need help

Which of the following can be the best title of the text?

         A．Bullying—Old Irish Girl Committed Suicide

         B．15-Year-Old Irish Girl Committed Suicide

         C．Cyberbullying-Taking Off in Schools  

D．How to Find Bullying among Teens

Right is right. Right? Of course. But is left wrong? Well, the Romans used to think so. They thought left-handed people were mistakes of nature. Latin, the language of the Romans, had many words that expressed this view. Some words we use today still have this meaning. The Latin word “dexter” means “right”. The English word “dexterous” comes from this word. It means “handy” (clever with hands). So, right is handy. But the Latin word for left is “sinister”. The English word “sinister” comes from this word. Sinister means “evil” (very bad). Is it fair to call right-handed people handy and left-handed people evil? Well, fair or not, many languages have words that express such beliefs. In old English, the word for left means “weak”. That isn’t much of an improvement over “evil”.

 Not very long ago, children were often forced to write with their right hands. Doctors have since found that this can be very harmful. You should use the hand you were born to use.

People who use their left hands are just starting to get better treatment. But why they get all these bad names in the first place? One reason may be that there are not as many left-handed people as there are right-handed people. There is one left-handed person for every five right-handed ones. People who are different are often thought to be wrong. But attitudes do seem to be changing. Fair-minded right-handed people are finally starting to give left-handed people a hand.

1. What does the passage lead us to believe when one writes?

A. He can only use his right hand.

B. He can only use his left hand.

C. He can use either his left hand or his right hand.

D. He can use both his left hand and his right hand.

2. The last sentence of this article means ________.

A. Fair-minded right-handed people want to change the habit of the left-handed people

B. Fair-minded right-handed people are starting to help the left-handed people

C. Fair-minded right-handed people are starting to use left hand to write and so on

D. Fair-minded right-handed people are starting to give up using their left hands

3. After we read the article we can certainly know that _______.

A. left-handed people have been treated poorly

B. the number of the left-handed people is larger than that of right-handed people

C. right-handed people are much cleverer than left-handed people

D. left-handed people are less smart but hardworking

4. Which of the following is NOT right, according to the article?

A. At one time, left-handed people were forced to use their right hands.

B. Left-handed people today are being treated better than those in the past.

C. There are not as many left-handed people as there are right-handed people today.

D. “Dexterous” comes from Latin, means “evil” and English “sinister” means “handy”.

Have you ever noticed what happens to an idea once you express it? Just talking about it or writing it down causes you to make it clear in your own mind．How can you use this to increase your brain power? Start writing．

    By putting thoughts into words, you are telling yourself the logic （逻辑） behind what you think, feel, or only partly understand．Often, explaining a thought is the process of understanding．In other words, you increase your brain power by exercising your “explain power.”

    Try this experiment．Explain how you’ll increase your brain power, even if you have no idea how right now．Just start with anything, and create an explanation．For example, start with “I’ll learn chess,” or “I’ll read an article on the mind every week.” Explain how that will help．You’ll be surprised how often this becomes a workable plan, and if you actually do this, you’ll have a better understanding of your brain twenty minutes from now．

    Another benefit of writing is that it helps you remember．Many, if not most, highly productive people are always taking notes．You can try keeping it all in your head, but if you keep a journal of your ideas the next time you’re working on a big project, you’ll probably have more success．

   Want to understand a topic? Write a book about it．That’s an extreme example, but if you are learning something new, write a letter to a friend about it, and you will understand it better．Want to invent something? Write an explanation of the problem, why you want to solve it, and why it is worth solving, and you’re half-way there．

    Writers don’t always write because they clearly understand something beforehand．Often, they write about something because they want to understand it．You can do the same．Writing will help bring you to an understanding．Give it a try.

What would be the best title for the text?

    A．A Way on How to Write               

       B．Increase Your Brain Power through Writing

    C．Brain Power Helps Improve Your Writing   

       D．How to Start Your Writing

According to the text, writing can help you a lot in the following ways EXCEPT ______.

    A．the increase of your brain power          

       B．the ability to remember

    C．the development of your interest in study  

       D．the better understanding of a topic

If a writer writes something, it means that he or she _______.

    A．has understood it very well           

       B．needs to understand it better

    C．wants to remember it in his or her mind  

       D．is exercising his or her “explain power”

The underlined sentence “you’re half-way there” in the fifth paragraph implies that ______.

     A．you are already successful            

       B．you still need to work hard

    C．writing can help you walk half way     

       D．writing is important to solve problems

What’s the main purpose of the writer writing the text?

    A．To advise readers to start their writing ．     

       B．To explain the importance of writing.

    C．To persuade readers to become writers．      

       D．To increase readers’ brain power.