When I was an official of a school in Paio Alto，California, Polly Tyner, the president of our board，wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times．Polly’s son，Jim，had great difficulty in school, He was classified as the educationally handicapped and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers．But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room．His parents knew his difficulties，but they always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride．Shortly after Jim finished high school，he was killed in a motorcycle accldent, After his death，his mother gave this letter to the newspaper．

“Today we buried our 20-year-old son．He was killed in a motorcycle accident on Friday night．How I wish I had known that the last time I had talked to him would be the last time．If I had only known that，I would have said to him，‘Jim，I love you and I’m always so proud of yon．’I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he had brought to the lives of the people who loved him．I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile，his laughter, and his genuine love to other people．

“When I put all the good things on the scale and try to balance them with all the irritating (恼人的) things such as the radio that was always too loud，the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed，etc．，I find that the irritations really don’t amount to much．

      “I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but，other parents, do have a chance．Tell your young people what you would want them to hear as if it may be your last conversation．The last time I talked to Jim was the morning of the day when he died．He called me to say,‘Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you．You have to go to work now．Bye．’That day, he gave me something to treasure forever．”

      If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate life more and to tell people，especially family members，that they should take the time to let each other know just how much they care．You may never have another chance．Do it today! 

Who was Jim?

      A．A school boy．                                      

B．The writer

      C．The president of a school board．                      

D．An official of a school．

What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase“the educationally handicapped”?

      A．The communication difficulty．              

B．The physical problems．

      C．The psychological problems．                        

D．The learning difficulty．

According to the writer, which of the following about Jim is TRUE?

      A．He was always sad about his school marks．

      B．His parents always scolded him about his bad school marks．

      C．His study needed more attention from his parents and teachers．

      D．He was kilied in a car accident

What did PoIly think of Jim?

      A．He was a lovely boy with a beautiful smile who always loved others．

      B．He was physically sick but always happy

      C．He was an irritating boy with some bad habits．

      D．He seldom expressed his love to his parents．

The purpose of Polly’s letter is to     ．

      A．memorize her son

      B．teach parents to appreciate their chtidren

      C．teach children how to be good boys

      D．give some advice on how to deal with children’s problems

B

By now there were several people standing around me, my mom, and the little broken bush(灌木丛).

“Son, would you like me to call an ambulance?” some men said.

“No,” my mom yelled. “I’m fine. Please go away!”

“She’s learning to ride,” I tried to explain to all those who were not going to go away.

“Oh, all right!” My mom sat up and brushed the grass and leaves off her sweater. Finally she stood up. Everyone began to clap(鼓掌), and my mom’s face turned bright pink.

“Thank you very much, but as you can see, I’m just fine.” Mom took a few steps around to show them that she wasn’t hiding a broken leg. Everyone clapped again and then went on their way.

“Enough for today?” I asked hopefully.

“No,” she said in a way that surprised me. “I almost had it, and then I let myself get scared. I know I can do it this time!” Now this sounded more like my mom, for I’d never known my mom to be afraid of anything before. I helped her pull the bike out of the bush and push it up the hill.

She didn’t look quite so pale this time. She got on the bike again and went down the hill. I ran down the hill after her. She had ridden quite a way ahead of me when she looked back over her shoulder, smiling. Then she gave me a thumbs-up(翘拇指) sign.

“No, no!” I yelled. “Use both hands!”

But it was too late. Again.

“Mom! Are you hurt?” I ran up to her in the grass.

This time she was laughing. “Did you see me? I did it! I really did it!” Then she stopped and looked at me. “I mean,” she said, “we did it.”

60. From the passage we can learn that the author ____.

A. was helping his mother learn to ride a bike   

B. went on a picnic with his mother by bike

C. was learning to ride a bike by himself           

D. could ride a bike as well as his mother could

61. Those people were not going to go away because they ____.

A. would wait until the police came                  

B. wanted to see if the author’s mother was OK

C. thought it was a terrible traffic accident

D. worried about the little broken bush

62. The underlined word “it” (in paragraph 8) most probably refers to ____.

A. the ambulance   B. the sweater    

C. the skill of riding a bike   D. the courage to stand up

63. What happened after the author’s mother gave him a thumbs-up sign?

A. She forgot how to ride a bike.               B. She broke one of her legs.

C. She was hit by something.                     D. She fell off the bike.

    Our 16-year-old daughter started to smoke last Christmas. It killed me to see that lovely girl with a cigarette(香烟) in her mouth. I told her how I felt. Martha continued to smoke, saying, “It's my life,” and so on. I told her if she didn't stop smoking, I wouldn't send her to college. She agreed to give it up.

Last night there was cigarette smell on Martha's breath. She had to say she had broken her word. Now I must do what I've said to punish(惩罚) her.

Martha is unusually bright and wants to teach children. I'm working full-time to put her older sister through school and would do the same for Martha. My husband's pay is good, but with prices going up all the time we could never educate the girls unless I kept on working.

My theory(理论) is that if smoking is more important to Martha than college, I'm a fool to work to put her through college.

Why did the mother feel sad?

A. Because her daughter failed to go to college.

B. Because her daughter tried to kill her.

C. Because her daughter promised to smoke no more.

D. Because her daughter got used to smoking.

The mother warned that if Martha didn't give up smoking, she would ______.

A. refuse to give Martha any money

B. not be Martha's mother

C. refuse to pay for Martha's college education

D. not let Martha teach children

What did Martha really do after mother warned her?

A. She failed to keep her promise.

B. She kept her promise.

C. She managed to give up smoking.

D. She broke something her mother gave her.

The mother said that ______.

A. Martha was usually a stupid girl

B. though Martha's father received high pay, it was not enough for their two girls' college education

C. as everything was becoming more and more expensive, the two girls had to work hard to pay for their education

D. she liked Martha's sister but hated Martha

阅读下面短文，根据以下提示：1）汉语提示，2）首字母提示，3）语境提示，在每个空
格内填入一个适当的英语单词，并将该词完整地写在右边相对应的横线上。所填单词要求意义准确，拼写正确。
Sixteen years ago my mother gave b        to a baby girl. That’s me.        1.      
As my parents worked abroad, I was          up by my grandparents. They      2.      
loved me too much and         (允许) me to eat anything as I wished to. I         3.     
preferred junk food         protective food although I knew I would suffer         4.     
from it later.      was my custom to do my lessons after meals. I never took        5.    
exercise, and thus I put on weight before          . For this reason my classmates 
6.     
often played t         on me, which made me upset. My parents wrote             7.      
to me telling me to             (咨询/请教) a doctor about it. The doctor
8.     
made a suggestion that I keep a b           diet and combine work with
9.     
athletic sports. I had great difficulty managing to        (减) down my weight.     
10.   

I keep a two dollar bill in my wallet that was given to me by my mother when I was six years old.

The  31  goes with me wherever I go. My mother gave it to me so that  32  would follow me. She looked at me and said, “I want you to carry this two dollar bill for extra good luck.”

“Thanks, mom,” I replied, “I will keep it  33  to me always.”

My mother passed away when I was seven years old. I remember I took out my two dollar bill and held it in my hand for the longest time, knowing that she would  34  me the rest of my life.

Each time I felt I had a crisis, I would  35  for my two dollar bill and set it on the table. I would  36  at it for several hours and could always  37  a solution. When I applied for my first job, I was thirty years old and very shy. The thought of being interviewed for a job was  38  but I had to work. I saw one of the interviewers well dressed with  39  purse and shoes. I also knew the chance of being chosen was  40  when looking at the length of others’ resumes.

“What makes you feel you are  41  for this job?” The well－dressed woman asked. “I really need this job and there is nothing I can not do” I responded. She then asked me a series of questions and the interview was over. As I left, I  42  and said “Please give me a chance. I learn quickly and can be a very  43  member of your team.”

I went home,  44 . That evening I received a phone call. “Gina” she said, “we decided to give you a chance to  45  yourself.” “Thank you, you will not regret this decision.” I  46  the phone and yelled. At that instant, I remember my mom once said to us “You are  47  in my mind. Don’t  48  failure. It is a way to get us to try harder.”

How  49  this gift from Mom! It had built up  50  in me.

1.                A．money         B．check          C．bill  D．paper

2.                A．luck           B．happiness       C．wealth   D．wisdom

3.                A．close          B．near           C．hard D．firm

4.                A．look out for     B．watch over      C．see to    D．come across

5.                A．get            B．stretch         C．hold D．reach

6.                A．stare           B．glance          C．observe  D．glare

7.                A．come up with    B．put forward      C．set up    D．pull through

8.                A．exciting        B．amazing         C．nervous  D．scary

9.                A．suitable        B．matching        C．fancy D．exaggerating（夸张的）

10.               A．slim           B．terrible         C．few  D．abundant

11.               A．born           B．qualified        C．stable D．grateful

12.               A．turned around   B．turned back     C．put up D．raise up

13.               A．productive      B．additional       C．concise（简洁）    D．effective

14.               A．terrified        B．exhausted      C．sound D．cautious

15.               A．test           B．challenge       C．prove D．strengthen

16.               A．hung up        B．got through     C．set aside   D．got off

17.               A．brilliant        B．awesome       C．careful    D．unbelievable

18.               A．stand          B．bend          C．fear  D．ruin

19.               A．rare           B．special         C．relative   D．primary

20.               A．confidence      B．perseverance    C．model D．intelligence