1 . Everybody, at some point in their lives, has experienced failure. It could be something as simple as not getting the job you wanted, or getting fewer marks even after hard work. But what makes you is not your failure, but how you get back up after being hit.
Once, a young school boy was caught in a fire accident in his school and was assumed that he would not live. His mother was told that he was sure to die, for the terrible fire had destroyed the lower half of his body. Even if he were to survive, he would be lame throughout his life.
But the brave boy did not want to die nor did he want to be lame. Much to the amazement of the doctor, he did survive. But unfortunately from his waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just hung there, lifeless. Eventually he left the hospital. But his determination to walk was unshakable. At home, when he was not in bed, he had to stay in a wheelchair. One day, he threw himself from the chair and pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him. He reached the fence, raised himself up and then began dragging himself along the fence, firmly determined. He did this every day, with faith in himself that he would be able to walk unaided. With his iron determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk on and off, then to walk by himself and then to run.
He began to walk to school, and then run to school, to run for the joy of running. Later in college he was on the track team.
In February 1934, in New York City's Madison Square Garden, this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run-this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world's fastest mile.
A good example of the power of positive thinking and faith in one's self, Glenn Cunningham continues to be an inspiration for many, and his story, a brilliant evidence to how one can bounce back even when all difficulties are piled against one, to the degree that death seemed the preferable option.
1. What was the doctor's opinion about Glenn?| A．Glenn was able to walk with his own great effort. |
| B．Great determination could make a difference to Glenn. |
| C．There was a slim chance that Glenn could survive. |
| D．Glenn could live a normal life with the upper half of his body. |
| A．without help | B．for himself |
| C．with disability | D．without hesitation |
| A．Glenn took recovery exercise in hospital. |
| B．Glenn inspired people with his moving story. |
| C．Glenn won the first place in Marathon. |
| D．Glenn organized a track team in college. |
A．Strengthen determination  | B．Stand up after failure |
| C．Go after dreams | D．Face difficulty bravely |
2 . In 1997, Mary gave a present of $ 500, 000 to the University of Southern Mississippi. She wanted to help poor students. It was a very generous thing to do. But her friends and neighbors were surprised. Mary was a good woman. She went to church. She was always friendly and helpful. But everyone in her town knew that Mary was not rich. In fact, she was poor.
How did a poor 89-year-old woman have so much money? Mary was born in 1908 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She had to leave school when she was eight years old to help her family. She took a job washing clothes. She earned only a few dollars a day. She washed the clothes by hand. Then she hung the clothes to dry. She did this for nearly 80 years. In the 1960s, she bought an automatic washer and dryer. But she gave them away. She did not think they got the clothes clean enough！At that time, many people started to buy their own washers and dryers. Mary did not have much work, so she started to iron clothes instead.
Mary never married nor had children. Her life was very simple. She went to work and to church. She read her Bible. She had a black-and-white television. But she did not watch it very much. It had only one channel.
Mary saved money all her life and eventually had about $ 800, 000. When she was 89, a lawyer helped her make a will. She left the money to the church, her relatives and the university. Mary wanted to help others. She did not think she was a special person. But then people found out about her present to the university. She received many honors. She even flew in an airplane for the first time！Mary died in 1999. She was a shy and ordinary woman who became famous.
1. Mary gave $ 500, 000 to the University of Southern Mississippi___________.| A．to surprise her friends and neighbors | B．to prove she was a rich woman |
| C．to help the poor students | D．to show her generosity |
| A．Mary left school young to help support her family |
| B．Mary’s parents asked her to wash clothes for others |
| C．an automatic washer and dryer were too expensive for her |
| D．Mary started to iron clothes because she didn’t get other skills |
| A．She didn’t have much work to do. |
| B．She only had a black-and-white television with one channel. |
| C．She went to the church every day with friends. |
| D．She didn’t like others to buy an automatic washer.. |
| A．Rich and friendly. | B．Poor and silly. |
| C．Well-educated and special. | D．Hard-working and helpful. |
3 . Not only kids of Tiger Moms go to Harvard.
Dawn Loggins of Lawndale，N.C.is on her way to Harvard，one of the eight worldfamous universities in the eastern US.Nobody encouraged her to study or paid for her special classes.This girl created her own future.
The teen was abandoned by her family last summer，when her parents and two sisters moved to Tennessee.She found herself homeless and had to spend the night on friend's sofas.
The school bus driver learned about Dawn's situation and invited Dawn to move in with her family.Soon，Dawn had a job at Burns High School.She worked from 6 a．m.to 7：40 a．m.before the first school bell rang.She swept floors and picked up trash again in the afternoons，before diving into her studies in the evenings.
Dawn's hard work paid off.She finished school with a 3.9 GPA and scored 2，110 on the SAT.
“There were times when I felt like it would be easiest if I gave up，”the 18yearold said.“But it was never in me to give up，because I realized that I was never going to be successful unless I got an education.”
Even before Dawn's family left her，she led a difficult life.Her family was poor and cups of noodles were often the only food.Dawn“studied by candlelight”because her parents couldn't afford to pay the electricity bill(电费)．
Dawn has now reconnected with her family.They are proud of her accomplishments(成就)and are attending her high school graduation.
1. Why didn't Dawn give up her studies?| A．To reconnect with her family. |
| B．To thank those who had helped her. |
| C．To get an education to be successful. |
| D．To realize her dream of going to Harvard. |
| A．Her teachers. | B．Her neighbors. |
| C．A Tiger Mom. | D．A school bus driver. |
| A．宠爱 | B．抛弃 |
| C．鼓励 | D．虐待 |
| A．Open-minded. | B．Good-natured. |
| C．Strong-willed. | D．Warm-hearted |
| A．Another Harvard girl |
| B．A girl in candlelight |
| C．From homeless to Harvard |
| D．The role of Tiger Moms |
Later on, Adrian’s parents decided to send him to a regular school. But the headmaster tried to prevent them from doing so, saying regular school couldn’t take care of a special needs students. His parents were determined to take the risk and push him hard to go through his work everyday because they wanted to prove that, given the opportunity, he could do anything. Adrian made the grade and got accepted. It was a big challenge. The pace(节奏) was faster so he had to sit at the front of the class and really pay attention to the teacher, which wasn’t always easy. But he stuck to it and did a lot of extra work after school.
The efforts made by Adrian and his parents paid off. Adrian graduated with good grades and got into a top high school. He also achieved a lot in life outside school. He developed a love for the outdoors and went to Nepal to climb mountains. He even entered the World Yacht Race 05/06—being the first hearing-impaired Asian to do so.
But none of these achievements would have been possible without one of the most important lessons from his mother.” “If you believe in yourself and work hard, you can achieve great results.” she often said.
1. How did Adrian communicate with other children in the special school?| A．By speaking. | B．By using sign language. |
| C．By reading lips. | D．By making loud noises. |
| A．they wanted him to live a normal life |
| B．they wanted to prove the headmaster wrong |
| C．he wouldn’t mix with other disabled children |
| D．he wasn’t taken good care of in the special school |
| A．He did a lot of outdoor activities. |
| B．He was pushed hard to study every day. |
| C．He attended private classes after school. |
| D．He worked very hard both in and after class. |
| A．He did very well in his study. |
| B．He succeeded in entering a regular school. |
| C．He reached his goals in spite of his disability. |
| D．He took part in the World Yacht Race 05/06. |
1. When did Erden probably start his journey?
| A．In2012. | B．In 2007. | C．In 2015. |
| A．He was short of money. |
| B．His health condition was bad. |
| C．The weather on the mountains was terrible. |
| A．On foot. | B．By car. | C．By boat. |
| A．Study Spanish. | B．Have a rest. | C．Plan for more trips. |
Marty Fielding has a rare muscle disease, which makes him very weak. He can’t run or climb stairs as quickly as other people.
7 . She was sitting up at four months, walking at eight months and completing 100-piece jigsaw puzzles（拼图玩具）at 15 months. So it is no surprise that Abigail Wilson, 15, from Connecticut, USA, recently made history when she became the youngest black girl ever accepted into an American university! “I’m proud of myself for getting in, but I usually find it hard to get excited. It’s pretty cool, I guess,” said Abigail.
Her mother, Nancy, said that Abigail was a quiet baby, born two weeks late on Christmas Day. She didn’t speak her first words until she was 22 months old! Nancy and her husband thought something must be wrong, but when she started to talk, her speech was perfect. She already knew her colours, letters and was able to read. Her parents read her normal bedtime stories and they didn’t know she was learning all of it.
Abigail has always been the youngest person in her class. At six she was in the fourth grade, at ten she took her first high school class in Maths. She has studied several languages, including Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, Arabic and German.
Abigail says that she doesn’t usually plan when she studies, she calls herself scatterbrained（注意力不集中的）and she always delays（拖延）things up to the last minute. This gives her the motivation to really do something.
In her free time, Abigail plays basketball, surfs the Internet, reads, cooks and hangs out with her friends: they are all 17 and 18.She has also studied music. Her mother says that Abigail’s music lessons helped her to be a normal teen. She believes that Abigail needed to be in a situation where she had to fail in order to learn. “She found playing the piano very difficult, but it made her learn better,” said Nancy. “She can’t always be successful, she won’t be able to learn anything! People always learn more from their failures than from their successes”.
1. Why is it no surprise that Abigail went to university at 15?| A．She was a hard-working girl. |
| B．She was always ahead of other kids. |
| C．She was brought up in a special way. |
| D．She was no different than other black girls. |
| A．She is crazy about sports. |
| B．She has a gift for language. |
| C．Her favourite subject is maths. |
| D．Her success is due to good habits. |
| A．Abigail has a better education than others. |
| B．Abigail won’t be a normal girl without music. |
| C．Nancy didn’t like Abigail when she was a baby. |
| D．Abigail usually does things when they are emergent. |
| A．Abigail failed to have a normal life. |
| B．Abigail needed to learn from failures. |
| C．Abigail was good at playing the piano. |
| D．Abigail wanted to always be successful. |
8 . Recently, a Philadelphia teen has been a hot topic in the US. Having always been hard-working in studying, Richard Jenkins has now
However, life is not always
“I realized I’ve got to try my best
Jenkins applied to Harvard in his junior year of high school. He said he was
Jenkins was quite
| A．demanded | B．received | C．achieved | D．represented |
| A．easy | B．practical | C．ordinary | D．impressive |
| A．build | B．afford | C．buy | D．exchange |
| A．Amazed | B．Discouraged | C．Encouraged | D．Embarrassed |
| A．creativity | B．profession | C．education | D．development |
| A．though | B．because | C．if | D．when |
| A．going | B．looking | C．putting | D．coming |
| A．poor | B．hungry | C．ashamed | D．regretful |
| A．live on | B．call up | C．focus on | D．bring up |
| A．feeling | B．idea | C．nature | D．effort |
| A．informed | B．warned | C．made | D．reminded |
| A．moved | B．confused | C．excited | D．satisfied |
| A．taken | B．changed | C．devoted | D．admitted |
| A．salary | B．scholarship | C．life | D．mark |
| A．show | B．spread | C．deliver | D．supply |
| A．proud | B．protective | C．fond | D．sure |
| A．hiding | B．existing | C．moving | D．living |
| A．knowledge | B．suffering | C．experiences | D．happiness |
| A．drive | B．ability | C．imagination | D．influence |
| A．praised | B．convinced | C．inspired | D．rewarded |
9 . At a young age, Patti Wilson was told by her doctor that she was an epileptic (癫痫病患者). Her father, Jim Wilson, is a morning jogger. She ran with her father every day. After a few weeks, she told her father, “Daddy, what I’d really love to do is to break the world’s long-distance running record for women.” Her father checked the Guinness World Records and found that the farthest any woman had run was 80 miles.
As a freshman in high school, Patti announced, “I’m going to run from Orange County up to San Francisco.”(A distance of 400 miles.) “As a sophomore (二年级学生),” she went on, “I’m going to run to Portland, Oregon.”(Over 1,500-miles.) “As a junior, I’ll run to St. Louis.”(About 2,000 miles.) “As a senior, I’ll run to the White House.”(More than 3,000 miles away.)
In view of her handicap (缺陷), Patti was as ambitious as she was enthusiastic, but she said she looked at the handicap of being an epileptic as simply “an inconvenience”. She focused not on what she had lost, but on what she had left.
That year she completed her run to San Francisco wearing a T-shirt that read, “I Love Epileptics.” In her sophomore year, Patti’s classmates got behind her. They built a large poster that read — “Run, Patti, Run!”
On her second marathon (马拉松), a doctor told her she had to stop. “Doctor, you don’t understand,” she said. “I’m doing it to break the chains on the brains that limit so many others.”
She finished the run to Portland, completing her last mile with the governor of Oregon. After four months of almost continuous running from the West Coast to the East Coast, Patti arrived in Washington and shook the hand of the then President of the United States. She told him, “I wanted people to know that epileptics are normal human beings with normal lives.”
Because of Patti’s efforts, enough money had been raised to open up 19 multi-million-dollar epileptic centers around the country. If Patti Wilson can do so much with so little, what can you do to outperform (超越) yourself in a state of total wellness?
1. How did Patti look at her illness?| A．She thought of it as a gift. |
| B．She devoted all her attention to it. |
| C．She faced it with discouragement. |
| D．She considered it a small difficulty. |
| A．She continued without quitting. |
| B．She focused on her treatment. |
| C．She followed his advice. |
| D．She asked for her classmates’ assistance. |
| A．To ask readers to answer it. |
| B．To get inactive people to run. |
| C．To encourage deep thinking. |
| D．To show his view on success. |
10 . Throughout all the events in my life, one in particular sticks out more than the others. As I reflect on this significant event, a smile spreads across my face. As I think of Shanda, I feel loved and grateful.
It was my twelfth year of dancing, and I thought it would end up like any other year: stuck in emptiness, forgotten and without the belief of any teacher or friend that I really had the potential to achieve greatness.
However, I met Shanda, a talented chorcographer (编舞者). She influenced me to work to the best of my ability, pushed me to keep going when I wanted to quit, encouraged me and showed me the importance of courage. Throughout our hard work, not only did my ability to dance grow, but my friendship with Shanda grew as well.
With the end of the year came our show time. As I walked backstage and saw many other dancers, I hoped for a good performance that would prove my improvement. I waited anxiously for my turn. Finally, after what seemed like days, the loudspeaker announced my name. Butterflies filling my stomach, I took trembling steps onto the big lighted stage. But, with the determination to succeed and eagerness to live up to Shanda’s expectations for me, I began to dance. All my troubles and nerves went away as I danced my whole heart out.
As I walked up to the judge to receive my first place shining, gold trophy (奖杯), I realized that dance is not about becoming the best. It was about loving dance for dance itself, a getaway from all my problems in the world. Shanda showed me that you could let everything go and just do what you feel at that moment. After all the doubts that people had in me, I believed in myself and did not care what others thought. Thanks to Shanda, dance became more than a love of mine, but a passion.
1. What did the author think her dancing would be for the twelfth year?| A．A change for the better. | B．A disappointment as before. |
| C．A proof of her potential. | D．The pride of her teachers and friends. |
| A．By offering her financial help. | B．By entering her in a competition. |
| C．By coaching her for longer hours. | D．By awakening her passion for dancing. |
| A．Nervous. | B．Dynamic. | C．Courageous. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．Success lies in courage. | B．Adversity helps one grow up. |
| C．A good teacher matters. | D．Reputation comes from hard work. |
