Monty was the son of a horse trainer. When he was in his ninth grade, he was asked to write a __36__ about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.

    That night he wrote a seven-page paper saying that someday he’d __37__ a horse ranch (牧场). He wrote about his dream in great detail and he __38__ drew a picture of a 200-acre ranch with all the buildings.

    He put a great deal of his __39__ into the project and the next day he handed it in __40__ his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a __41__ that read, “See me after class.”

    The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, “__42__ did I receive an F?”

The teacher said, “This is an __43__ dream for a young boy like you. You come from a poor family. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of __44__. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for other things. There is no__45__ you could ever do it.” Then the teacher added, “__46__ you rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.”

The boy went home and thought about __47__ long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, “Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important __48__ for you.”

Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the __49__ paper, making no changes at all. He said to the teacher, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my  50  .”

 

1.A. speech             B. paper                C. notice               D. diary

2. A. paint             B. win              C. own              D. sell

3.A. just               B. almost               C. ever             D. even

4. A. heart             B. life             C. advice               D. trust

5.A. to                 B. with             C. from             D. for

6. A. word              B. letter               C. note             D. post

7.A. How                B. Why              C. When             D. Where

8.A. unusual                B. unforgettable        C. unimportant      D. unrealistic

9.A. money              B. time             C. space                D. effort

10. A. wonder               B. way              C. problem          D. matter

11.A. Though                B. since                C. Until                D. If

12. A. himself              B. him              C. it                   D. itself

13.A. change                B. gift             C. message          D. decision

14.A. long              B. thick                C. same             D. correct

15.A. grade             B. dream                C. duty             D. secret

 

 Dean Bluey is 14-year-old boy from the USA. He became a hero after he saved(救)the life of a girl in another country.

   A 14-year-old boy from the USA was described as a hero yesterday after he saved the life of a woman in another country．

   One day，he  46  an email to a friend on the Internet．To his surprise, he received a message, saying “Help! Pain! Help!”．"The   47   was from Finland(芬兰)， thousands of  kilometers away from America．Later Dean said to a reporter,  “I didn't know   48   I should do.  It was really difficult to tell if the message was real．”So Dean did nothing at first．  49   the message kept coming．Now it was easy to see that someone was in trouble. He   50   and found that the sender was a student called Tarja,   51   was ill, alone in a university library. What was   52  , there was no phone around her. Her only way of communicating with the world was by email. Dean telephoned the   53    immediately. And they realized that the situation was quite serious. They called the police in Finland. Then an ambulance(救护车) rushed to the library   54   , she was still alive and was sent to the hospital quickly.

　“I'm glad she's OK,” Dean said. “It's hard to believe, but   55  saved her life.”

1. A. brought      B. lent         C. sent            D. bought

2.A. speech       B. message     C. music           D. telephone

3. A. how         B. what        C. where          D. when

4.A. So           B. And        C. But            D. Or

5. A. replied        B. ran        C. walked          D. played

6.A. He           B. She        C. It              D. I

7.A. worse        B. better       C. harder          D. easier

8. A. teacher       B. friend       C. doctor          D. police

9.A. Badly        B. Hardly      C. Luckily         D. Carefully

10. A. fax          B. better       C. flight           D. e-mail

 

1 

The night of graduation, I was afraid. Two hundred people were sitting out there. I felt tense and I wanted to run away,   1   I couldn’t! After all, my own children were sitting in front of me with many other persons. I couldn’t be a coward(懦夫) before   2  .

When I ended the speech, I was    3   at the cheering. And I never forget the first time I received the cheering in my life.

Flowers arrived    4   my brothers and sister. My husband gave me silk roses. The reporters came with   5   and recorders and lots of questions. There were tears and hugs and congratulations.

Sometimes, I sit down and   6   the tape of my graduation speech. I hear myself say to the audience, “Don’t’ give up your   7   in life. Anything can happen if you believe. It means hard work, but   8   sure that you can do it, with God’s help.”

And then, I remember mother’s   9   to me , a young girl: “Hurry, Gin, you’ll be late for school.”

Yes, Mom, I was late   10   school, but it was sweeter for waiting. I only wish you and Dad could have been there to see your daughter and granddaughter in all their show and speech.

1.A. and            B. then         C. so           D. but

2.A. them       B. themselves       C. him          D. himself

3.A. worried        B. worrying     C. surprised        D. surprising

4.A. at         B. in               C. to               D. from

5.A. books      B. newspapers       C. cameras      D. cars

6.A. put up     B. put down     C. put on           D. put off

7.A. speech     B. ideas            C. dreams       D. love

8.A. let            B. take         C. get          D. make

9.A. shout      B. shouting     C. call         D. calling

10.A. to            B. for          C. of           D. with

 

Making sense of how the US shows humor

Living in a new country gives me many surprises. The first surprise was the way that the US people speak

One day I saw someone was having a public speech in a square. I thought it would be a serious speech. But I soon found it became a kind of entertainment show.

   The speaker told the audience to protect the environment with humorous words. Later he said some people’s behavior didn’t go with their words. He took the example of Taylor Swift’s song We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.[

   He said that since Swift doesn’t want to be with the boy any more, she doesn’t need to speak it aloud, she doesn’t need to sing unless she still keeps in touch with that guy. It sounds like she is a hypocrite.

   Then he sang the song in a funny way. The audience laughed out loudly. I felt a little angry because Swift is my favourite star. I couldn’t understand why they laughed at Swift.

As time goes on, I find many US people make fun of others. But they don’t mean to hurt them. They do that to show closeness and humour. And people who are laughed at seldom get angry. Now I understand the speaker at the square. Now I’ve got used to the way the US people speak.

   It’s easy to find culture shock when you’re in a new place. But everyone should learn to understand different cultures and customs. 

1.The man in the square was _______________.

A. teaching people how to give a speech       

B. calling on people to protect the environment

C. giving a singing show in public            

D. criticizing the US government           

2.What does the underlined word “hypocrite” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A. 会唱歌的人      B. 真诚的人       C. 虚伪的人    D. 爱护环境的人

3.From Paragraph 6, we learn that_________________.

A. many US people like to laugh at others  

B. many US people are friendly and humorous

C. the US people get angry at others easily 

D. the writer doesn’t like the way the US people speak          

4.Which is Not suitable for the passage?

A. The writer went to America and protect the environment.

B. Americans show humour in a different way from China.

C. It’s easy to find culture shock when you are in a new place.

D. Tailor Swift is an American famous singer.               

5.What does the article mainly talk about?

A. Differences between the Chinese and the US people.      

B. In what way the US people speak in public.

C. How to get used to life in the US.  

D. A Chinese girl’s culture shock experience in the US.

 

Making sense of how the US shows humor

Living in a new country gives me many surprises. The first surprise was the way that the US people speak.

One day I saw someone was having a public speech in a square. I thought it would be a serious speech. But I soon found it became a kind of entertainment show.

   The speaker told the audience to protect the environment with humorous words. Later he said some people’s behavior didn’t go with their words. He took the example of Taylor Swift’s song We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

   He said that since Swift doesn’t want to be with the boy any more, she doesn’t need to speak it aloud, she doesn’t need to sing unless she still keeps in touch with that guy. It sounds like she is a hypocrite.

   Then he sang the song in a funny way. The audience laughed out loudly. I felt a little angry because Swift is my favourite star. I couldn’t understand why they laughed at Swift.

As time goes on, I find many US people make fun of others. But they don’t mean to hurt them. They do that to show closeness and humour. And people who are laughed at seldom get angry. Now I understand the speaker at the square. Now I’ve got used to the way the US people speak.

   It’s easy to find culture shock when you’re in a new place. But everyone should learn to understand different cultures and customs. 

1.The man in the square was _______________.

A. teaching people how to give a speech

B. calling on people to protect the environment

C. giving a singing show in public

D. criticizing the US government           

2. What does the underlined word “hypocrite” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A. 会唱歌的人      B. 真诚的人       C. 虚伪的人       D. 爱护环境的人

3.From Paragraph 6, we learn that_________________.

A. many US people like to laugh at others  

B. many US people are friendly and humorous

C. the US people get angry at others easily  

D. the writer doesn’t like the way the US people speak          

4.Which is Not suitable for the passage?

A. The writer went to America and protect the environment.

B. Americans show humour in a different way from China.

C. It’s easy to find culture shock when you are in a new place.

D. Tailor Swift is an American famous singer.               

5.What does the article mainly talk about?

A. Differences between the Chinese and the US people.      

B. In what way the US people speak in public.

C. How to get used to life in the US.  

D. A Chinese girl’s culture shock experience in the US.