I try to be a good father. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed (拉着) him 2.4 miles in a dinghy (小游艇) while swimming and pedaled (蹬车) him 112 miles — all in the same day. And what has Rick done for his father? Not much — except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled (使窒息) by the umbilical cord (脐带) during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

When Rick was 11 the Hoyts took him to hospital and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,’’ Dick was told. “There’s nothing going on in his brain.’’

“Tell him a joke,’’ Dick countered (反驳). They did. Rick laughed. It turns out that a lot was going on in his brain. Equipped with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor (光标) by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate.

And after a high school classmate was paralyzed (瘫痪) in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out (啄出), “Dad, I want to do that.’’

How was Dick, who had never run more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried.

That day changed Rick’s life. “Dad,’’ he typed, “when we were running, it felt like I wasn’t disabled any more!’’

And that sentence changed Dick’s life. He became obsessed(迷恋) with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon. In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon (三项全能运动)?’’

Now they’ve done 212 triathlons, including four 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 — only 35 minutes off the world record.

“No question about it,’’ Rick types. “My dad is the Father of the Century.’’

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries (动脉) was 95% blocked. “If you hadn’t been in such great shape,’’ one doctor told him, “you probably would have died 15 years ago.’’ So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other’s life.

1.What is the meaning of the underlined word ‘limbs’ in Paragraph 3?

A. fingers and toes    B. hands and feet    C. arms and legs        D. wrists and knees

2.At the 24^th Boston Marathon, Dick and Rick ________.

A. reached the finish line within 160 minutes    B. nearly broke the world record

C. did better than 5082 athletes         D. completed the journey 35 minutes ahead of time

3.What changed Rick’s life?

A. Rick’s love for his father.        B. Rick’s joining in the charity run with his father.

C. A computer enabling Rick to communicate.        D. Rick’s strong will and perseverance.

4. What do we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A. Dick was considered as the Father of the Century by the public.

B. Rick made his father so well-known that the doctors treated him well.

C. Dick got into great shape by assisting his son in marathons and triathlons.

D. Rick saved his father when he had a heart attack in a race two years ago.

 

Kids will often ignore your requests for them to shut off the TV, start their chores (杂事), or do their homework as a way to avoid following your directions. Before you know it, you’ve started to sound like a broken record as you repeatedly ask them to do their assignments, clean their room, or take out the trash. Rather than saying, “Do your chores now”, you’ll be more effective if you set a target time for when the chores have to be completed. So instead of arguing about starting chores，just say, “If chores are’t done by 4 p.m, here are the consequences.”  Then it’s up to your child to complete the chores. Put the ball back in their court. Don’t argue or fight with them，just say, “That’s the way it’s going to be.” It shouldn’t be punitive (惩罚性的) as much as it should be persuasive. “If your chores aren’t done by 4 p.m, then no video game time until chores are done. And if finishing those chores runs into homework time, that’s going to be your loss.” On the other hand, when dealing with homework, keep it very simple. Have a time when homework starts, and at that time, all electronics go off and do not go back on until you see that their homework is done. If your child says they have no homework, then they should use that time to study or read. Either way, there should be a time set aside when the electronics are off.

When a kid wears his iPod or headphones when you’re trying to talk to him, make no bones about it; he is not ignoring you, he is disrespecting you. At that point, everything else should stop until he takes the earplugs out of his ears. Don’t try to communicate with him when he’s wearing headphones—even if he tells you he can hear you. Wearing them while you’re talking to him is a sign of disrespect. Parents should be very tough about this kind of thing. Remember, mutual(相互的) respect becomes more important as children mature(成熟).

1.According to the passage，it seldom happens that________.

A．kids turn a deaf ear to their parents’ requests

B．parents’ directions sound like a broken record

C．children are ready to follow their parents’ directions

D．parents are unaware of what they are repeating to their kids

2. Parents will be able to deal with their child more effectively if they ________.

A．avoid direct ways of punishment

B．make him do things at their request

C．argue and fight with their child

D．allow their child to behave in his own way

3. When the kid is doing his homework，parents________.

A．should provide him with a good learning environment

B．can do whatever they like

C．can stay aside watching TV

D．must switch off the power

4.It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A．parents should take off his headphones when trying to have a talk with their child

B．it will make no difference that a kid is wearing his earplugs while talking to his parents

C．parents shouldn’t give in to their kid when he shows no sign of respect

D．kids’ purposely talking to their parents with iPod gives them a sense of power and control

5. The main idea of the passage is________.

A．that respecting each other is more important than anything else

B．how kids behave to ignore and disrespect their parents

C．that children should make choices and decisions on their own

D．how parents can deal with their kid’s behavior without losing their control

 

II. 语言知识及应用（共两节，满分35分）

第一节：完形填空（共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21～30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Have you ever simply wanted to give without expecting anything in return? It’s  21  to do. Most look for a reward in some way. I know I did, most of the time, but then a TV program of “Oprah” inspired me. She gave everyone in the audience $1,000 to spend on a complete__22__, accompanied by a video camera to ___23 __ what they did with the money.

Two sisters from Georgia  24___  from the crowd in my mind---they put their money together to give to “My sister’s House”, a  25 ___ that helps battered(受虐的) women and children. Not only did they  26 ___   their money, but they told everyone in their town about the organization. It was amazing that people were crazy to ring and  27 ______money, baby clothing, and more.

This story made me realize how often I expect things from others and how  28______  I give things in return. I don’t have a thousand dollars to spend on a stranger, but I do have a heart that is full of love and generosity. I now hold doors open for others and  29__ __ at people I don’t know, because a smile is contagious(有感染力的) and I try to bring as much happiness as I can into others’ lives. It’s difficult, but I feel it is really ___30 ____.

21. A. hard     B. easy    C. simple D. hardly

22. A. countrymen  B. stranger      C. acquaintance      D. friend

23. A. show          B. record                    C. learn                        D. praise

24. A. stood up      B. stood out    C. stood by     D. stood for

25. A. room    B. house  C. village       D. shelter

26. A. spend   B. divide C. combine     D. separate

27. A. give     B. bring  C. donate D. take

28. A. often    B. really  C. simply       D. rarely

29. A. sing      B. cry     C. smile  D. laugh

30. A. rewarding    B. awarding    C. expecting   D. giving

 

Recipients（接受者）of this year's Annenberg scholarships were announced on June 19. Brittany Blythe was one of them.

In seventh grade，Brittany Blythe dreamed of being a cheerleader（啦啦队队员）. Her school’s coaches were less than enthusiastic. “They said. ‘I don't know how you’ll be able to do it’. ”she recalls. “‘You won’t be able to do it’.”

But Brittany，now a junior at Strath Haven High School near Philadelphia，refused to give up. And when the junior school cheerleaders won a tournament last year, she was right there，dancing and cheering with the rest of the team.

Not bad for someone whose legs were cut off below the knee when she was two years old.

Brittany,18,was born without shinbones(胫骨）—“just blood and muscle tissue，”as she puts it. When she tried to walk, her legs twisted.    

After the operation, she adapted quickly. “From day one，I basically jumped up and wanted to do everything,’’ she says. Prostheses(假肢)allowed her to move around upright. But too slowly to keep up with her friends. Brittany’s solution was to take the legs off and walk on her knees something she still does when safety and comfort permit.

She has been rarely discouraged. Other children laughed at her through the years，especially in junior high school，but she says the challenge only made her stronger. Now she’s trying to convince her coaches to let her remove the prostheses and be a flyer. The cheerleader who's thrown in the air and caught by her teammates.

Brittany doesn’t think her problems put her at a disadvantage. “My disability was the first thing I had to get through., and that’s going to prepare me for the future. ”she says. “It’s all just a test：If someone throws you a difficult problem，what are you going to do?”   

1. What was the coaches’ first attitude towards Brittany's dream?

A．Supportive

B．Enthusiastic

C．Optimistic

D．Doubtful

2. What was Brittany’s reaction after the operation?

A．She abandoned herself to self-pity.

B．She refused to use the prostheses.

C．She accepted the result and tried to get used to it.

D．She challenged the children who laughed at her.

3. What does Brittany want to achieve at the moment?

A．To stop others’laughing at her.

B．To prove her coaches wrong.

C．To remove her prostheses.

D．To be a flyer.

4. We can learn from the last paragraph that Brittany _________.

A．doesn’t think she is better than others

B．is not well prepared for the future

C．takes a positive attitude towards life

D．likes the challenge of learning new things

5.. What's the best title for the text?

A．A new leg，a new life	B．A new cheerleader, a new record
C．Passing the test	D．Seeking advantages

 

If Mickey Mouse slips (滑倒)on a banana skin on TV, viewers laugh. But for ordinary people, falling is not   36  . For example, if you   37  over a stone or fall off your bike, you have to take days to get well. For   38  people, the result of a fall could be worse.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, wanted to know why some people are   39  likely to fall than others.

The researchers found that   40  means more than planting your feet on the ground and standing tall. Your brain   41  your sense of balance with information from your eyes and inner ears and the   42  from your feet and legs. If something goes wrong with any of these, you’re   43   to fall. People   44  to fall more often as they grow older because their senses are slower.

State of mind is important too. The research shows that when people know they’re walking on a slippery surface, they   45  their pace and walk with flatter feet. As a result, they fall less often.

“We actually   46  people slip and fall,” researcher Mark Redfern said. People of different ages fall on   47  in his lab. Cameras   48  their falls and a computer analyzes the information. Scientists then can   49  people who fall often how to be more watchful.

“If they get   50  to a lifelike but controlled environment, people can   51  learn to handle the   52  thing,” Redfern said.

Falls happen to everyone sometimes.   53  you see someone fall, think about why and offer a helping   54  . This person’s painful experience may   55  you from falling at the same place.

1.A．unhappy                  B．exciting               C．amusing              D．foolish

2.A．drop                       B．trip                     C．knock                 D．get

3.A．slow                       B．young                 C．old                     D．active

4.A．too                         B．less                     C．very                    D．more

5.A．balance                   B．control                C．fall                     D．walk

6.A．remains                   B．imagines             C．thinks                 D．keeps

7.A．touching                  B．feeling                C．walk                   D．pace

8.A．likely                      B．surely                 C．possible               D．certain

9.A．refuse                     B．mean                  C．tend                    D．like

10.A．frighten                 B．quicken               C．widen                 D．slow

11.A. encourage B．make                                 C．stop                    D．challenge

12.A．purpose                 B．ground                C．accident              D．agreement

13.A．broadcast               B．record                 C．play                    D．catch

14.A．persuade                B．force                   C．practise               D．train

15.A．closed                   B．informed             C．used                    D．know

16.A．eventuallyB．firstly                               C．regularly             D．mainly

17.A．uneasy                   B．real                     C．creative               D．hard

18.A．Even if                  B．While                 C．As far as             D．Next time

19.A．hand                     B．stick                   C．word                   D．leg

20.A．warn                     B．remind                C．prevent               D．defend