【推荐2】The first time I saw Carlos, I would never have believed he was going to change my life. I had my arms full of books and I rushed into the classroom when I ran into something solid. It was Carlos.

“My...you’re tall, ” he said.

Of course, the class began to laugh. Angry, I walked to my seat without a word.

I looked back to see if Reed Harrington was laughing with the rest. That would be the last straw. To my relief, I saw Reed was studying chemistry and did not seem to be aware of anything else. I didn’t know why I considered Reed my friend. Maybe just because he was a good two inches taller than me.

“Take that seat, ”Mr. McCarthy told the newcomer Carlos, pointing to the only empty one, in the back of the room.

Carlos laughed widely. “But I need a couple of dictionaries.”Again, the class laughed, but now they were laughing with Carlos, not at him. He had been here only 10 minutes and already he had them on his side.

The bell rang for classes. As I stood up to go, I saw Carlos coming toward me. “I’m sorry l embarrassed you,” he said. I looked straight ahead over the top of his black hair. “That’s all right.” I said.

“A little talk?” He was still standing in my way and held out his hand. “What’s your name?” “Karen Forbes.” Unwillingly, I shook hands with him. He looked up at me seriously with his brown eyes. “I am Carlos. I don’t see why you’re so easy to get angry.”

It was the school elections that made me think of Carlos again. Reed Harrington was voted president and Carlos vice-president. “How come?” I kept asking myself, “How come this guy who’s only been in town for a little over a month gets to be so popular?”

So on that morning, I stopped Carlos and said, “It doesn’t seem to bother you being short.” He looked up at me, “Of course I mind being short. But there isn’t anything I can do about it. When I realized I was going to have to spend my life in this undersized skin, I just decided to make the best of it and try my best to be myself.” “You seem to get along great,” I said honestly, “But what about me? Nobody wants to date a girl taller than he is.” “The trouble with you is you’re afraid to be yourself. You’re smart. And you could be pretty. In fact, you might be more than pretty.” I felt myself turning red...

1. How was the writer’s feeling when she first met Carlos?

A．unhappy

B．shy

C．interested

D．pleased

2. Why did Carlos say “But I need a couple of dictionaries.” in paragraph six?

A．Because he wanted to sit on the dictionaries.

B．Because he was making jokes about his height.

C．Because he wanted to look up words in the dictionary.

D．Because he needed a couple of dictionaries to give to Karen as gifts.

3. Which of the following can best describe Carlos?

A．Careful and braver	B．Popular and proud
C．Generous and smart	D．Humorous and confident

4. What does the writer want to tell us?

A．Her embarrassing experience.

B．How she made friends with Carlos.

C．The troubles she had with her height.

D．An important lesson she learnt from Carlos.

【推荐3】

No matter how difficult life maybe. There's always a reason to smile and be happy. I may struggle to get through the challenges of today. But I know, as long as I keep going, I will be OK. Some of the biggest trees started off as the smallest seeds, so never give up on your _______. Life may fly by in the blink of an eye, but the memories I have made will last forever.

1. What should we do if we meet difficulties in life?

A．We should smile and be happy.

B．We should keep the difficulties going.

C．We should stop working on the difficulties.

D．We should keep the difficulties in the memories.

2. The best word for the blank in the poems is________.

A．habits

B．jobs

C．dreams

D．choices

3. The four short poems above are ________.

A．painful

B．meaningful

C．colourful

D．peaceful

【推荐1】For years, I fought with the “bird’s nest” on top of my head. My mother thought my hair was naturally beautiful, but my classmates didn’t agree. They made fun of it, calling my hair “the mop (拖把)”.

When I got to university, I decided to change my hairstyle. I had my curly (卷曲的) hair straightened (拉直). However, it cost me $700 once every six months to do this. People said I was crazy to spend that much on my hair. But I would do anything to never again see that curly-haired girl in the mirror.

But when I had to rent my own apartment, the cost became too high. So I turned to Google. In the end, I found a “curly haired” salon, a place designed for girls with crazy hair. When I arrived there, the stylist, Jacquai, was waiting for me.

“Do you really think this will work?” I asked.

“No curly hair is hopeless,” she replied. “You just haven’t found a way to work with it. That’s all.”

After the hour was over, Jacquai had completed her task. She had fixed my hair using only her hands. I couldn’t believe it: my hair looked beautiful.

Now my world has changed. I am more outgoing and confident than ever. People say that I’m looking better than ever but that they don’t know what has changed. Hair is not just hair. I don’t need to tell them. My hair speaks for itself.

1. The writer’s classmates thought her hair was ________ .

A．beautiful

B．straight

C．tidy

D．ugly

2. The writer found that getting her hair straightened ________ .

A．was expensive and useless	B．did not make her look good
C．was helpful but too expensive	D．caused others to make fun of her

3. What was the reaction of the stylist in the salon when she saw the writer?

A．She was very angry because the writer was late.	B．She thought the writer's hair was a disaster (灾难).
C．She was calm (冷静) and sure of her work.	D．She thought there was no way to fix the writer's hair.

4. The writer's world has changed because________.

A．she became confident.	B．she cut her curly hair.
C．she found a way to straighten her hair.	D．people knew her change.

5. The best title of the passage can be________ .

A．A successful stylist	B．Road to beauty
C．Learn to live with my curly hair	D．No curly hair is hopeless

【推荐2】Miss Bailey taught me English in Junior school. She cycled to school, and then when entering the school gate, she would gave her bicycle to anyone of us to park it for her. It was a privilege（特别恩典）when Miss Bailey gave her bicycle to you. One day Shankar stood at the gate, Shankar was a hunchback（驼背的人）.
We laughed and said, “Move out of the way, Shankar! Miss Bailey is going to enter!” Miss Bailey drove in and we all rushed to offer our hands to her. But Miss Bailey looked past us all. “Will you park it for me?” she asked. We looked back to see who it was and were surprised to see it was towards Shankar. “I don’t think so, Miss Bailey!” stammered （结结巴巴地说）Shankar. “Why! You lazy fellow!” said Miss Bailey playfully. “You don’t want to help your teacher, do you?” “ Of course I want to, Miss Bailey!” whispered Shankar. “But I might drop your cycle!” “ If you drop it ,you pick it up!” said the teacher with a smile.
With that she gave her cycle to Shankar and didn’t look to see how he’d manage. Pretending she had confidence in his abilities, Miss Bailey turned and walked to class. We watched Shankar as he held her bike, we held our breath as we thought it was going to fall. Dines rushed to help. “Leave it!” Shankar said, and we all stopped. It seemed that his hump（驼背）disappeared as he drew himself up to his full height, and then with growing confidence, he pushed Miss Bailey’s cycle to the parking lot. The school bell rang, and we rushed to class. Shankar was the last to enter, but we were surprised; it was a different boy who walked in.
Miss Bailey didn’t even look at him as he walked to her and handed her the key. From that day on, Shankar was ready to answer the questions in class, his grades went up and a smile appeared on his face.
1. Miss Bailey go to school________.

A．by bus

B．by bike.

C．by taxi.

D．on foot

2. When Shankar entered the classroom after parking the bike, ________

A．Miss Bailey praised him

B．his classmates cheered

C．his hump disappeared

D．he was full of confidence

3. It can be inferred（推断）from the passage that Bailey _______.

A．lived a comfortable life

B．had no pity on Shankar

C．was hard on her students

D．treated every student fairly

【推荐1】

Yang Zhen was a government officer during the Eastern Han Dynasty（25-220）.

One day, Yang met his old workmate Wang Mi on a trip. They had fun talking about their life experiences and good wishes to the nation. Once, Wang’s ability and political ideas were not accepted by the people around him. But Yang Zhen saw his talent and promoted him（提拔）. The chance helped Wang to be successful. So Wang invited him to stay over for the night.

It was near midnight when Wang knocked on the door of Yang’s bedroom. He handed Yang a bag and said, “This is to thank you for teaching me and helping me become who I am today. ” Yang looked in the bag. It was full of gold.

“Do I look like a person who accepts bribes（贿赂）from others? I thought you knew me well!” Yang said angrily.

“It’s late at night. No one will know if we keep it secret, ” said Wang.

“What do you mean no one will know? Heaven（天）knows, Earth knows, ” said Yang. “You can cheat anyone but not your own heart.”

1. According to the passage, what made Wang Mi successful? ________

A．Yang Zhen gave him a chance.

B．Wang Mi gave Yang a bag of gold.

C．They both have good wishes to the nation.

2. Why Wang Mi invited Yang Zhen to stay over for the night? ________

A．Because they are workmates.

B．Because they understand each other well.

C．Because Wang Mi wanted to bribe Yang Zhen.

3. After hearing Yang Zhen’s words, Wang Mi would probably feel ________.

A．angry

B．shameful

C．unsatisfied

4. Which of the following statements is right? ________.

A．Wang Mi knows Yang Zhen very well.

B．Yang Zhen was an honest and clean officer.

C．Nobody knows the secret between Yang and Wang.

5. What might be the best title of this article? ________

A．The Secret Between Two Workmates!

B．Bribes, Another Way to Success!

C．Heaven Knows, Earth Knows!

【推荐1】Jack thought himself a basketball fan. He watched quite a lot of American NBA basketball games. Not only did he watch them, he spent much of his free time playing on the court too. Then came the final year of his middle school. All of his regular teammates stopped showing up on the court because they were simply too busy preparing for the high school entrance exam to play. He was, of course, under much stress himself, like everyone else. A good exam result meant a good high school; a mediocre(平庸的)score meant a mediocre school._________ However, he loved basketball so much that he still found time to play, this time with a group of guys who were said to have skipped classes(逃课)before.

Some of his teachers started worrying about him. They asked his mother to go to school to let her know that Jack was hanging out with problem kids. When his mother returned home that day, she wanted to talk to Jack. Knowing the purpose of her visit to the school, Jack thought his mother would punish him for befriending those bad guys. To his surprise, his mother was not angry with him at all. She wanted to hear her son's side of the story. So Jack told his mother about what he knew of Simon and Peter. Simon's parents were badly ill; Peter's father had lost his job. They both seemed to Jack to be normal kids. Jack's mother thought for a moment, then went on to say that she was OK with her son playing with them and that she and her son should think of ways to help these kids. Soon Jack's mum introduced some part-time jobs to Simon and Peter, which they accepted. She believed in her son and cared about those who were less lucky.

Jack's basketball friends and he have left for different places, but they still keep in touch. He knows Peter is now a manager of a local bank. Simon is currently a freshman at a university. Sadly, it is impossible to get together to play basketball again, but whenever they get on the phone, they talk about it all the time.

1. After Jack's mother came home from school, she      .

A．was angry with him

B．told him what his teachers had said

C．asked him to keep away from problem kids

D．was patient enough to listen to her son's words

2. What does the underlined sentence "Much was at stake " probably mean in the passage?

A．Jack must be punished by his mother.

B．Jack might not enter a good high school.

C．Jack might get hurt when playing basketball.

D．Jack must be influenced badly by problem kids.

3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Peter's family are living much better.

B．Simon is now studying at a university.

C．Jack's mum understood him instead of blaming him.

D．Jack's teachers wanted his mother to help his friends.

4. The main idea of the passage is to      .

A．make friends with problem kids

B．keep in touch with friends all the time

C．try to understand children and help problem kids

D．give up hobbies before the high school entrance exam

【推荐2】B

The day was like any other day in his life. Tom walked past the shop on the street corner. He stopped to look at the front row of shoes, and he felt happy to see that the pair of shoes he wanted very much was still there. Looking down, he felt sorry for himself. He really wanted to have them for his birthday.

He sadly walked away and thought how to tell his mother about it. He knew she would give him anything he liked if she could. But he also knew very well she had little money. He decided not to go home at once, as he looked worried and his mother would notice it. So he went to the park and sat on the grass. Then he saw a boy in a wheel chair.He noticed that the boy moved the wheel with his hands. Tom looked at him carefully and was surprised to see the boy have no feet. He looked at his own feet. “It’s much better to be without shoes than without feet,” he thought. There was no reason（理由）for him to feel so sorry and sad. He walked away and smiled, thinking he was happier.

1. What did Tom want to buy?

A．A pair of shoes.

B．Feet.

C．Something to eat       .

2. Why did Tom felt sorry after seeing the pair of shoes?

A．Because he didn’t like it.

B．Because it was too old.

C．Because he had little money.

3. Where did Tom see the boy?

A．In the school.

B．In the park.

C．On the street corner.

4. What might be the Chinese meaning of the phrase“a wheel chair”?

A．摇椅

B．躺椅

C．轮椅

5. What did Tom learn from his experience at last?

A．Cherish（珍惜）what you have.

B．Shoes are not important.

C．Feet are as important as shoes.

【推荐3】Laptop computers are popular all over the world. People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.

Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1,500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of $10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. In addition, they will be able to use e-mail to “speak” with their teachers, their classmates, and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fast-food restaurant or under the trees, anywhere at all!

Because of the many changes in computer technology, laptop used in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers. In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State higher-education officials are studying how laptops can help students. State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.

At Westlake College, more than 60 percent the staff use computers. The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons. As one Westlake teacher said, “Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we're giving students a window on the world. They can see everything and do everything.”

1. The main purpose of the laptop program is to give each student a laptop to ______.

A．use for their schoolwork	B．access the Internet
C．work at home	D．connect them to libraries

2. Why is the word “speak” in the second paragraph in quotation marks(引号)?

A．They don't really talk.	B．They use the computer language.
C．Laptops have speakers.	D．The writer wants to catch our attention.

3. Which of the following is TRUE about Westlake College?

A．All teachers use computers.	B．1,500 students have laptops.
C．It is an old college in America.	D．Students there can do anything they want.

4. The laptop used in higher education, such as colleges and universities is workable because ______.

A．university students like using computers to do a lot of work

B．computer technology changes a lot

C．laptops are easy to use

D．laptops are cheaper to afford

5. “A window on the world” in the last paragraph means that students can ______.

A．attend lectures on information technology	B．travel around the world
C．get information from around the world	D．have free laptops

6. What can we infer(推理) from the passage?

A．The program is successful.	B．The program is not workable.
C．The program is too expensive.	D．We don't know the result yet.