1 . Grandma celebrated her fifty-third birthday just weeks before grandpa died of cancer in 1965. Although his passing was very difficult for her, I think their shared struggle to make his life longer taught grandma that good health was not to be taken for granted, and she made up her mind to live her rest of her own life as fully and as long as she could. One day, when she announced to attend lessons at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Portland, Oregon, where she lived, we rolled-our eyes in embarrassment and helplessly wished she would just stay home and bake cookies as normal grandmothers did. Many years filled with countless dance lessons passed before we learned to appreciate the wonder of having a dancing grandma.

I suppose grandma’s primary motivation for wanting to learn to dance was social. She had been a shy girl, always very tall and heavy, and had married into grandpa’s quiet lifestyle before developing any elegance or confidence in her personal appearance. Dancing, on the other hand, filled her life with flash lights，wonderful parties, beautiful dresses, handsome young dance instructors, and the challenge of learning. Although the weekly dance lessons did not change her ample, two-hundred-pound figure, grandma surprised everyone with energetic performances on the dance floor, which soon gave her as much elegance and confidence as any Miss American competitor.

Having taken weekly dance lessons for years, my grandma learned various dances easily and was soon participating in dancing matches all over the Northwest. When I was fourteen, grandma proudly invited me to watch her compete in one of these matches to be held in the grand ballroom of the Red Lion Inn. My attitude was still unenthusiastic at that point, but to make her happy, my mother and I attended the match. As if to prove me wrong, grandma made a wonderful showing in every event she entered. I thought she was truly the queen of the ball during the dance, and my thoughts were shared by the judges a short time later when she was awarded a gold cup for her outstanding performance.

1. What did grandma learn from grandpa’s death?

A．Good health was not there for everyone.

B．She should take dance lessons.

C．She had to struggle to live a better life.

D．She should wear beautiful dresses.

2. Normal grandmas usually        in the author’s point of view.

A．took dance lessons	B．did some exercises at home
C．took care of grandchildren at home	D．did some housework at home

3. The author felt        when he was invited to watch grandma’s match.

A．happy	B．proud
C．excited	D．uninterested

2 . 根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

There’s no doubt that when it comes to friendship，you want positive people in your life and not negatives ones．    1     ．Support when you need it. With positive friends，you don’t need to beg for help when you need it because chances are they will be there for you without asking．    2         ．Health benefits of being positive．The more positive friends you have，the better you will be at remaining optimistic yourself．    3     . For example，it helps people to deal with stress and illness better．Health benefits may include lower rates of depression，a greater ability to throw off colds，and a reduced risk of developing disease．Bring out the best in you．    4     . This means trying new things，achieving goals，and having the kind of life you dreamed of for yourself．With positive people in your life，you’11 feel more comfortable sharing your goals because your friends will give you the emotional push you need to go after what you want in life．Attracting More Positive FriendsYou naturally attract the kinds of friends who are most like you．So if you’re a downer，you’11 probably find that negative people flock to you．    5     . The more you are able to maintain a positive attitude，the more likeminded people you’11 attract in return．

A．Here are some benefits of spending time with positive friends．

B．That’s why you’d better surround yourself with positive friends．

C．In most cases，they will go out of their way to help you when you’re in trouble．

D．The same is true for being positive．

E．As we all know，there are many benefits of being optimistic．

F．Your positive friends will inspire you to be the best you can be．

G．Most of the time，you have to ask them to help you when in trouble．

3 . At the age of ten I could not figure out what this Elvis Presley guy had that the rest of us boys did not have．I mean，he had a head，two arms and two legs，just like the rest of us．About nine o'clock on Saturday morning I decided to ask Eugene Correthers，one of the older boys，what it was that made this Elvis guy so special．He told me that it was Elvis’ wavy hair and the way he moved his body．
About half an hour later all the boys in the orphanage(孤儿院)were called to the main dining-room and told we were all going to downtown Jacksonville，Florida to get a new pair of Buster Brown shoes and a haircut．That is when I got this big idea，which hit me like a ton of bricks. If the Elvis hair cut was the big secret，then that’s what I was going to get．
A11 the way to town I told everybody, including the matron(女管家)from the orphanage who was taking us to town， _________________________________________________________________________________ ．
When I got my new Buster Brown shoes, I could hardly wait for my new hair cut and now that I had my new Busier Brown shoes I would be very happy to go back to the orphanage and practice being like Elvis.
We finally arrived at the big barber shop，where they cut our hair for free because we were orphans(孤儿)．I looked at the barber and said，“I want an Elvis hair cut. Can you make my hair like Elvis?”I asked him，with a big smile on my face．“Let's just see what we can do for you，little man，”he said．I was so happy when he started to cut my hair．Just as he started to cut my hair, the matron signed for him to come over to where she was standing．She whispered something into his ear and then he shook his head，like he was telling her “No”．Then he told me they were not allowed to give us Elvis hair cuts．Then I saw my hair falling onto the floor．
1. In the author’s eyes，Elvis Presley was_________．

A．disgusting	B．admirable
C．ambitious	D．dynamic

2. From the passage，we can know that______________．

A．Buster Brown was more appealing than Elvis Presley

B．An Elvis hair cut cost the orphans a lot of money

C．The matron did not want the boy to have an Elvis hair cut

D．The barber was unwilling to give the boy an Elvis hair cut

3. We can learn from the underlined sentence that the boy was______．

A．excited to have an Elvis hair cut

B．worried to think about the secret

C．anxious to remove the ton of bricks

D．careful to seize the chance

4. How would the boy probably feel when he walked out of the barber shop?

A．Delighted．	B．Guilty．
C．Self-satisfied．	D．Depressed．

4 . I was stopped at a red light only a mile or so from my goal of my brother’s house. We were planning to drive down together to North Carolina to be with my father who was badly ill.

As I waited at the stoplight experiencing this forced slowdown, noticed Sharper’s Florist over to the left. It was the same place where I had experienced many things- floods of memories went through my mind as the light seemed a blessing. I noticed the wine store straight ahead where my father and I had been many times before, picking out the beer of the week. We both liked German beer.

The light finally became green and I made my left turn and drove through the poor section of our hometown. I remembered how each Thanksgiving my family would be together. I also remembered how my father would take some time out of each Thanksgiving to make sure there was no one hungry in the neighborhoods surrounding where we lived. I can remember as a young boy going with him to deliver some food. I was scared. I had never been into this part of town this deeply before.

My father seemed unfazed (泰然自若的) by this and went about his business. The people we went to help seemed to know him and gratefully accepted what he came to offer. My father seemed able to give away the food in a way that honored those he was giving to. This was not an arrogant act. He would stop at each place and talk a little, which I can remember totally pissing me off. I wanted to get the hell out of there. My father wanted to be sure everyone had food. If there were people he found who didn’t have food, he would take the time to go back and get more. That’s the kind of man he was.

1. When the father was ill, he       .

A．lived in North Carolina	B．gave away food to the poor
C．came to help the poor in his hometown	D．stayed at the home of the author’s brother

2. The author mentions the wine store to tell us       .

A．the same taste as his father	B．the life in his childhood
C．the experience with his father	D．the birthplace of his father

3. The author was afraid of giving away food to the poor probably because       .

A．his father didn’t stay with him then	B．his father didn’t take good care of him
C．he was unfamiliar with the surroundings	D．he had never met so many poor people

4. The underlined word “arrogant” in the last paragraph probably means “      ”.

A．angry

B．proud

C．careless

D．wild

5 . When I got the driving license last summer, Mom and I took our first trip around an empty parking lot. Then I found that my mother was not the best teacher for me. It wasn't that she shouted, or told me that I was doing poorly. As you can imagine, my mother’s “helpful instructions” only managed to make me more nervous.

Since I could no longer practice with her, the job was placed in the hands of my father. The idea of learning from Dad was not one that thrilled me. I loved him dearly, but I just did not see Dad as someone I could be comfortable learning from. He almost never talked. We shared a typical father-daughter relationship. He'd ask how school was, and I'd say it was fine. Unfortunately, that was the most of our conversations. Spending hours alone with someone who might as well have been a stranger really scared me.

As we got into the car that first time, I was not surprised at what happened. Dad and I drove around, saying almost nothing, aside from a few instructions on how to turn. As my lessons went on, however, things began to change. Dad would turn the radio up so I could fully appreciate his favorite Stones music. And he actually began talking. I was soon hearing about past failed dates, "basic body" gym class, and other tales from his past, including some of his first meeting with Mom.

Dad’s sudden chattiness was shocking until I thought about why he was telling me so much in the car. In all the years that I had wondered why my father never spoke that much, I had never stopped to consider that it was because I had never bothered to listen. Homework, friends, and even TV had all called me away from him, and, consequently, I never thought my quiet father had anything to say.

Since I began driving with him, my driving skill has greatly increased. More important, though, is that my knowledge of who my father is has also increased. Just living with him wasn't enough— it took driving with him for me to get to know someone who was a mystery.

1. The author couldn’t practice driving with her mother because

A．she couldn’t talk with her mother

B．her mother made her nervous

C．her father wanted to teach her

D．she didn't trust her mother

2. At first, the idea of learning driving from her father made her

A．happy	B．disappointed
C．satisfied	D．uneasy

3. What surprised the author when the driving lessons went on?

A．Her Dad was a chatty person.	B．Her Dad was the best teacher.
C．Her Dad liked modern music.	D．Her Dad told her his sad stories.

4. With her story “Car Talk”, the author indicates that

A．fathers love their daughters dearly

B．family members need real communication

C．mothers are less patient than fathers

D．it takes time to improve the father-daughter relationship

6 . On countless mornings over the past year, I stood with my son, James, in our driveway, watching our neighbor hurry off to kindergarten. My wife and I wanted to give James the best   education, but that meant we’d have to change our jobs and spend less time with our kid. I asked myself, “Would this trade-off be worth it?” When I look at the research on child development, I think it might not. Where our kids go to school might matter less than most American parents think.
Social scientists have long tried to determine why some children grow up to be successful. In a 2001 study, Greg Duncan, a professor of education at the University of California, measured the influence that the people in a child’s life have on how well the child does in school. Duncan and his team found almost no relationship between how students did on the test and whom they sat beside in class, whom they hung out with after school and who lived in their block. The only meaningful link they found was between siblings（兄弟姐妹）and twins in particular.
For a long time, scholars thought that a family’s income heavily affected how well kids did     in life. But that might not be the case. When Susan Mayer at the University of Chicago looked at the relationship between family income and lifetime achievement, she ran a series of experiments to measure it, finding such outcomes weren’t caused by income. She argued that the things that make a difference are relatively inexpensive: the number of books a kid has or how often his family goes to museums.
Lareau, another scholar began one of the most in-depth observations of American parenting. He concluded that success is much more related to the amount of time parents spend with their children. He said “Many parents I interviewed are anxious about their children’s futures．But they have exaggerated（夸大）the sense of the risks involved if they don't give their children the best of everything..”
So at last, we decided to leave things as it were. More time with our kid is the best we can provide.
1. The first paragraph is intended to __________.

A．introduce the topic of the passage

B．confirm the result of a research

C．stress the importance of good education

D．support a research on child development

2. From the passage we know that most American parents _________.

A．spend a lot of time with their children

B．like to buy a variety of books for their children

C．think children's achievement largely depends on schools

D．believe their income cannot afford children's education

3. Who believes children's brothers and sisters may influence their academic performance?

A．Lareau．	B．Greg Duncan．
C．Susan Mayer．	D．James．

4. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Parents' time matters to children's future．

B．School education determines children's future．

C．Family income counts to children's achievements．

D．Less education means more risks for children's success．

7 . My favorite English teacher could draw humor out of the driest material. It wasn’t forced on us either. He took Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, Addison’s essays, and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious, even at eight o'clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own, some of them seemed dead, but the second time, after his explanation, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen the humor. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions(典故) and irony and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.
My least favorite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be wonderfully funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six-week period, to be written every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas, short stories, reactions to what we had read, and so on. Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other’s journals. Mine was passed to Joe, that class clown, who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make a joke of and said, “This writing isn’t fit to line the bottom of a birdcage.” Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.
So what makes the difference? Humor is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing, or it can tear them apart. It is true that humor is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating.
1. The passage mainly discusses ________.

A．teaching

B．literature

C．humor

D．knowledge

2. The underlined word “hilarious” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.

A．funny

B．tiring

C．inspiring

D．brilliant

3. The English teacher the writer disliked most ________.

A．was not able to make students laugh	B．hurt his student’s feelings
C．didn’t let his students do the grading	D．had no sense of humor

8 . One spring, when I was 10, during one of my father’s layoffs (失业), I could tell my mother was unhappy. I decided to cheer her up by buying her a special Mother’s Day gift.

One day after school I rode my bike to the Agins, which, I learned years later, was known for its high-end fashions (时尚) and styles. I introduced myself to Sylvia Agins, telling her I was looking for a Mother’s Day present.

“Do you think she’d like a purse?” she asked. I told her. I thought she might.

She took out an Italian handbag made of leather. She asked me what I thought, and I told her that my mom would like it.

“How much money do you have?” she asked.

“Twelve dollars,” I said.

“You’re in luck,” she told me. “It’s only $11. You have a dollar left over for the card.” She gift-wrapped the purse and thanked me for my business, and I rode off home with the package under my arm.

When my mother opened the gift the next Sunday morning, she asked in an accusing tone, “Where did you get this?”

“I bought it at the Agins. It cost me $11.” I said.

My mother was shocked into silence.

It wasn’t until many years later, when I learned that the purse was worth several hundred dollars, that I appreciated just how wonderful Sylvia Agins had been to me. I always felt bad that I never had a chance to properly thank her.

“You know, my son, what really amazes me to this day,” my mother said, “Letting you have the purse for just a few dollars was unbelievable enough. But the fact that she let you leave the store with a dollar for the card was a touch of kindness that I’ll never forget.”

1. The author bought his mother a purse to ________.

A．surprise his mother	B．make his mother happy
C．show his ability of making money	D．thank his mother for buying him a bike

2. Why was the author’s mother shocked into silence?

A．She wasn’t expecting a gift from her son.

B．The purse was bought from the Agins.

C．The author bought a card to go with the purse.

D．The Agins charged so little money for the purse.

3. Sylvia Agins’ behavior shows that________.

A．she is good at making money	B．she is kind and thoughtful
C．she knows how to choose presents	D．she is critical and mean

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．An Unforgettable Event	B．A Considerate Mother
C．A Priceless Mother’s Day Gift	D．A Kind-hearted Shop Owner

9 . In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition which she won last year.
As a writer, I know about winning contests – and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection letter from the publisher. I also know the pressure of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and destroyed hopes can resurface in our children.
A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting my daughter’s experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
1. What do we learn from the first paragraph?

A．A lot of amusements compete for children’s time nowadays.

B．Children have lots of fun doing mindless activities.

C．Rebecca is much too busy to enjoy her leisure time.

D．Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

2. What did the author say about her own writing experience?

A．She was constantly under pressure to write more.

B．Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

C．She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

D．Her road to success was full of pain and frustrations.

3. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?

A．She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

B．She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.

C．She wanted to share her stories with readers.

D．She had won a prize in the previous contest.

4. The underlined sentence probably means that the author was _______.

A．trying not to let her daughter enjoy her own life

B．trying to get her daughter to do the thing as the author wished

C．making sure that her daughter would win the contest

D．helping her daughter develop real skills for writing

10 . Open Letter to an Editor
I had an interesting conversation with a reporter recently --- one who works for you. In fact, he’s one of your best reporters. He wants to leave.
Your reporter gave me a copy of his resume(简历) and photocopies of six stories that he wrote for you. The headlines showed you played them proudly. With great enthusiasm, he talked about how he finds issues(问题), approaches them, and writes about them, which tells me he is one of your best. I’m sure you would hate to lose him. Surprisingly, your reporter is not unhappy. In fact, he told me he really likes his job. He has a great assignment (分工), and said you run a great paper. It would be easy for you to keep him, he said. He knows that the paper values him. He appreciates the responsibility you’ve given him, takes ownership of his profession, and enjoys his freedom.
So why is he looking for a way out?
He talked to me because he wants his editors to demand so much more of him. He wants to be pushed, challenged, coached to new heights.
The reporter believes that good stories spring from good questions, but his editors usually ask how long the story will be, when it will be in, where it can play, and what the budget is.
He longs for conversations with an editor who will help him turn his good ideas into great ones. He wants someone to get excited about what he’s doing and to help him turn his story idea upside down and inside out, exploring the best ways to report it. He wants to be more valuable for your paper. That’s what you want for him, too, isn’t it?
So your reporter has set me thinking.
Our best hope in keeping our best reporters, copy editors, photographers, artists --- everyone --- is to work harder to make sure they get the help they are demanding to reach their potential. If we can’t do it, they’ll find someone who can.
1. What does the writer think of the reporter?

A．Optimistic.

B．Imaginative.

C．Ambitious.

D．Proud.

2. What does the reporter want most from his editors in their talks?

A．Finding the news value of his stories.	B．Giving him financial support.
C．Helping him to find issues.	D．Improving his good ideas.

3. Who probably wrote the letter?

A．An editor.

B．An artist.

C．A reporter.

D．A reader.

4. The letter aims to remind editors that they should ______.

A．keep their best reporters at all costs

B．give more freedom to their reporters

C．be aware of their reporters’ professional development

D．appreciate their reporters’ working styles and attitudes