1 . Snowy wanted to be a show jumping horse. Every day she would _______ her mum to allow her to jump. Finally, her mum decided she was _____ enough and they went into the jumping arena (竞技场).

Snowy was very excited, but when she saw how ______ the jumps were, she started shaking." I can't jump that high. It's a good idea that we ________." she said. Her mum said,“I wouldn't expect you to _________ that high. There's a log (原木) on the ground. Why not start jumping over that?" Snowy gathered (积聚) her ________, walked to the log and then managed to jump over it.

“I did it!" she shouted happily. _________, her mum said,“You can't just jump over logs if you want to be a show jumper. ________ the low jump over there."

Again, Snowy was ___________but she tried it and found she could do it. As time went on, Snowy progressed to taller jumps, until finally she ________ the arena and looked at the tallest jumps. Over the past few weeks, something had _______. These jumps seemed much less ______ to Snowy. She jumped over them easily. Her mum looked with ________ at her and said,“This is what happens when you start ________ and build your way up."

So never be afraid of ________   in life, but start small and keep trying. Then you'll be able to do anything.

1.

A．ask

B．warn

C．force

D．advise

2.

A．old

B．fat

C．clever

D．careful

3.

A．deep

B．high

C．long

D．far

4.

A．wait

B．leave

C．stay

D．settle

5.

A．see

B．stop

C．start

D．arrive

6.

A．speed

B．power

C．doubt

D．courage

7.

A．Suddenly

B．immediately

C．However

D．Besides

8.

A．Remember

B．Try

C．Carry

D．Study

9.

A．nervous

B．happy

C．upset

D．serious

10.

A．missed

B．liked

C．entered

D．needed

11.

A．appeared

B．changed

C．begun

D．continued

12.

A．dangerous

B．important

C．familiar

D．terrible

13.

A．pride

B．anger

C．patience

D．kindness

14.

A．early

B．young

C．small

D．smart

15.

A．failures

B．worries

C．uncertainties

D．difficulties

3 . In the future, when robots can be used both in homes and in other areas, they could improve the living standards of people. Many people burn their energy on their day­to­day tasks like cooking, cleaning after work, etc. When robots can complete such jobs, people can spend more time with their family and friends. Experts say that many major problems in the modern world are caused by miscommunication. When people have more time, they can talk freely to solve such issues and eventually create a happy society.

Robots can be used on certain jobs to avoid accidents caused by careless behavior of some people. When robots are used on such work, it does not risk any human life due to accidents at the workplace. Human resources can be efficiently used by performing tasks which demand human skills like critical thinking and problem solving. Robots can be used on low­end jobs like moving heavy things and heavy weight lifting.

While some people talk about how robots can be useful to humans, others voice their concerns. When robots become cheaper to produce, employers may prefer to use more robots than humans. As the technology constantly improves the abilities of robots, it could weaken the value of humans. Many people may rely on robots heavily. Some may even develop the habit of using robots on tasks that they can easily do. This could create a lazy society.

As an aging society, Japan sees it as a must to build robots that take care of elderly people at their homes, because without them, the nation’s health care system can’t cope. There will simply be too many elderly people to care for as the nation faces a decreasing birth rate, an aging population, and the loosening of family ties. However, many of Japan’s elderly people would prefer human helpers rather than robots. Above all, Japan needs its dreams of robots in the home to come true because its immigration policy is anti­immigration.

1. According to the first paragraph, when robots can be used in homes, ________.

A．people will spend more time on their work

B．there would be more misunderstandings between humans

C．people’s living standards will be improved

D．people may communicate more with robots than human beings

2. Compared with humans, robots are better at ________.

A．problem solving

B．communicating with others

C．critical thinking

D．working safely

3. Some people worry that with more robots being used ________.

A．people will be unwilling to work hard

B．human resources won’t be needed at the workplace

C．it will be harder to improve the abilities of robots

D．robots will be beyond our control

4. What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．Japan will try to develop robots to be used in the home.

B．The robots are well received by elderly people in Japan.

C．The Japanese government encourages foreigners to move to Japan.

D．Most Japanese citizens are against robots in the home.

4 . When a terrible earthquake hit, many people were killed and many houses fell down. After the earthquake, all the newspapers reported many stories about some of the families who were in trouble.

One Sunday, when I was reading a newspaper, a special picture touched me. It gave the clothing sizes of each family member. I thought that this would be a good chance to teach my children to help those who were less lucky than ourselves. I said to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and three-year-old Meghan. “ We have so much, and these poor people now have nothing. We’ll share what we have with them.”

I filled a box with foods and clothes. While I was doing this, I encouraged the boys to choose their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and games and put them together. Then she walked away. A few minutes later she came back with Lucy, her much-loved doll. She put the doll on top of the other toys. “ Oh, dear,” I said. “ You don’t have to give Lucy. You love her so much.” Meghan said, “ Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she’ll make another little girl happy, too.”

I looked at Meghan for a long moment. She taught me a lesson. It’s easy to give something that we don’t want any more, but harder to give what we cherish (珍爱), isn’t it?

1. The writer has _______ children.

A．one

B．two

C．three

D．four

2. The underlined word “ donate ” probably means _______

A．捐赠

B．丢掉

C．展出

D．放好

3. Lucy is the name of _______.

A．a girl

B．a game

C．a doll

D．an earthquake

4. What’s the best title of this passage?

A．A Family Story.	B．The Spirit of Giving.
C．The way of helping others.	D．A Sad Experience.