2 . My family moved into our home nine years ago. We live on a corner, and the entire side of the yard is enclosed by a   ______ built rock wall. The front of the house though is another ______ because instead of a wall along the sidewalk, the rocks appear to be just ______ up onto the dirt.

We did the best we could and called this area our ‘rock garden'. Whenever we had leftover flowers or plants, I would ______ them out front, just to bring some ______ to the arca.

Last summer I reached the end of the rock garden and found a tiny little plant that 1 could not immediately ______ , we didn't plant it. We decided to let it ______ growing until we could ______   what it was.

Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the ______ plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. It was skinny. I decided to ______ it along and weed around it. As I pulled rocks to get to the weeds, I noticed something ______ . The sunflower had not started where I saw it ______ . It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to ______ the sun.

That's when I realized that we should stand tall like the sunflower and the environment will begin to ______ us. We will find a way to go under or around our big ______ in order to reach our desires.

1.

A．professionally

B．randomly

C．simply

D．terribly

2.

A．wall

B．story

C．side

D．yard

3.

A．built

B．used

C．thrown

D．made

4.

A．select

B．cut

C．stick

D．pick

5.

A．dirt

B．color

C．flowers

D．plants

6.

A．clarify

B．identify

C．account

D．observe

7.

A．continue

B．avoid

C．escape

D．start

8.

A．take down

B．come across

C．refer to

D．figure out

9.

A．charming

B．wonderful

C．ugly

D．mysterious

10.

A．dream

B．wait

C．baby

D．explore

11.

A．unusual

B．important

C．common

D．disturbing

12.

A．begin

B．stop

C．shoot

D．expand

13.

A．shade

B．stand

C．steal

D．reach

14.

A．shelter

B．choose

C．warn

D．support

15.

A．failures

B．advantages

C．problems

D．situations

4 . An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money.

When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother, “Only a miracle (something couldn’t happen) can save him now,” the little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully.

She hurried to a drugstore (药店) with the money in her hand.

“And what do you want? ” asked the salesman. “It’s for my little brother,” the girl answered. “He’s really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle.” “Pardon?” said the salesman.

“My brother Andrew has something bad growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?” “We don’t sell a miracle here, child. I’m sorry,” the salesman said with a smile.

“Listen, if it isn’t enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs.”

A well-dressed man heard it and asked, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?” “I don’t know,” she answered with her eyes full of tears. “He’s really sick and mum says he needs an operation. But my daddy can’t pay for it, so I have brought all my money.”

“How much do you have?” asked the man. “$ 1.11, but I can try and get some more,” she answered.

“Well, what luck,” smiled the man. “$ 1.11, the price of a miracle for little brothers.”

He took up the girl’s hand and said, “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”       

That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a famous doctor. The operation was successful and it wasn’t long before Andrew was home again.

How much did the miracle cost?

1. In the eyes of the little girl, a miracle might be _______.

A．something interesting	B．something beautiful
C．some good food	D．some wonderful medicine

2. From the passage we can infer that _______.

A．The doctor didn’t ask for any pay for the operation

B．A miracle is sure to happen if you keep on

C．The little girl is lovely but not so clever

D．Andrew was in fact not so sick as they had thought

3. What’s the title of the passage?

A．A lucky boy	B．A sincere-hearted girl
C．A kind doctor	D．A challenging operation

5 . 阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。

“No 7, Jobie Nymble, takes the lead,” cried the announcer. “Just one more hurdle(跨栏) and...” Cheers broke out.

“Jobie Nymble from Riverside Middle School takes first place in the girls' 100-meter hurdles!” The crowd went wild.

“County championships(锦标赛), here we come,” screamed Jobie, patting her green track spikes(钉鞋). They were her lucky shoes and she loved them. “Next Saturday, we're taking home the gold,” Jobie whispered to her spikes, excitedly retying them.

“Don't forget, guys,” said Marisol, one of her teammates. “My birthday party is next Friday at Hidden Park.”

Next weekend couldn't come soon enough. Jobie smiled with excitement all week long. At track practice, she leaped over those hurdles faster than she'd ever leaped before. And it wasn't long before everything in her path was a hurdle: flowerpots in her front yard, sidewalk cracks on the way to the bus stop and even her little sister, Teka!

The day of Marisol's party, Jobie put on her favorite outfit: her blue shorts, an old track T-shirt from her dad, and her lucky spikes. “Perfect.” She smiled at herself in the mirror.

The party was under way when Jobie arrived at Hidden Park. She stopped by the track first, planning to do some practice.

“Jobie!” Two of Jobie's teammates rushed toward her, breathless and barefoot. “Come on,” they yelled. “You have to try the slide.”

Jobie looked toward the party area. Suddenly, she saw it. The biggest slide she had ever seen was on the far side of the park. Smiling kids zoomed down the slide at unspeakable speeds. Without thinking twice, Jobie took off her spikes and dashed(猛冲) toward the slide. Its ladder stretched to the sky, but she reached the top in no time, closed her eyes and let go.

Jobie couldn't get enough. She tried again and again. When it was finally time to go home, she unwillingly made her way back to the track where she'd left her shoes.

注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:

As she eyed the area from a distance, panic set in.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

The next day, Jobie turned up in a new pair of spikes for the championships.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . On such a rainy day, I had no intention to drive up the winding hilly road to my daughter Betty’s house. But she had _______ me to see something at the top. So here I was, _______ making the two-hour journey through the thick fog.

I _______ along the dangerous highway. Turning down a narrow track, we _______ and got out. When we turned a corner, we stopped—and I gasped (喘息) in _______. From the top of the mountain, for several acres down across the valleys, were rivers of daffodils (水仙花) in blossom. A variety of _______—from the palest milky to the deepest lemon-shone like a carpet before us.

A flow of _______ filled my mind. Who created such beauty? Why? How? _______ we approached the home that stood in the center of the possessions, we saw a sign _______: “Answers I Know You Are ________. The first was: “One ________—Two Hands, Two Feet, and Very Little Brain.” The second: “One at a Time.” The third “Started in 1968.”

She started almost fifty years ago, probably just at the ________ of an idea, but she kept at it. “Imagine,” I said, “if I’d had a(n) ________ and worked at it, just a little bit every day, what might I have ________?” Betty looked at me sideways, smiling.” Start tomorrow,” she said. “________, start today.”

1.

A．warned

B．persuaded

C．allowed

D．reminded

2.

A．unwillingly

B．hopefully

C．deliberately

D．automatically

3.

A．raced

B．inched

C．walked

D．wandered

4.

A．called up

B．turned up

C．came up

D．pulled up

5.

A．sorrow

B．amazement

C．embarrassment

D．peace

6.

A．flowers

B．trees

C．colors

D．rivers

7.

A．questions

B．fantasies

C．worries

D．ideas

8.

A．Before

B．After

C．Unless

D．As

9.

A．writing

B．telling

C．reading

D．showing

10.

A．Expecting

B．Giving

C．Asking

D．Making

11.

A．Man

B．Woman

C．Climber

D．Traveler

12.

A．end

B．thought

C．edge

D．sight

13.

A．idea

B．opinion

C．hope

D．story

14.

A．conveyed

B．adopted

C．accomplished

D．demanded

15.

A．Good enough

B．Worse still

C．Well off

D．Better yet

7 . James ran his first 30 kilometres. It was not easy for him, but he made it. Months earlier, he wasn't in any condition to run five miles, let alone 18.6 miles, the distance of a 30 kilometres.

One day, early in the morning, my wife Lisa discovered that our older son, James, had been playing video games since he got home from school the previous day. What she found angered both of us.

We were sick of the amount of time James spent playing video games. He would often sleep until 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays because he stayed up playing games until 3:00 in the morning.

Driven to break our son's life style, we tried several different approaches, like limiting the amount of time he was allowed to play games each day, but we couldn't find anything that worked consistently. He always seemed to go back to the game, especially when we were not there to monitor him.

It's not that I'm against video games; I am just against playing them every waking moment at the expense of exercise. In an attempt to ensure that our kids did not become addicted to games, I came up with an idea: Game time in our house would have to be earned, just like money. Each mile run equals 30 minutes of video-game play. We put no limit on the number of miles James could run in a day, so the only limit to the amount of time he played was based on how far he decided to run. The first couple of days didn't go very well. James got sick of the idea and refused to run at all. Eventually, James decided he would give running a shot.

It never occurred to him that running was giving him a sense of purpose. James even planned to join a marathon and hoped to become the youngest family member to complete one. It was my hope that running teaches him to invest his time in worthwhile causes, not just video games. I never want him to stop challenging himself.

1. What do we know about James at the beginning?

A．He stayed up learning.	B．He was a video game addict.
C．He was academic.	D．He could control the amount of time playing games.

2. What's the author's attitude towards video games?

A．Indifferent.	B．Favorable.
C．Objective.	D．Opposed.

3. How did James like running in the end?

A．It was beneficial and meaningful.	B．It was tiring and meaningless.
C．It was boring and difficult.	D．It was skillful and exhausting.

9 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

It was raining pretty hard on Halloween, but that wasn’t going to stop my little sister Kate and me from trick-or-treating. We decided to start at Miss Parson's house. Miss Parson was loved by us kids who lived nearby because she often shared her self-made cookies with us. We usually finished them in a second, especially when we were hungry after class. Sometimes, when we visited her or did something for her, she always gave us surprise.

Kate and I wondered what kinds of treats she'd offer. As we walked down the street, I held an umbrella, a bag for candy, and my sister's hand. Jack-o-Lantems gave soft light along the street. Spider webs hung in all the windows. Parents who were dressed up like monsters (怪物) stood in doorways. After we had walked a few blocks, we were wet from head to toes, and I felt Kate was trembling with cold.

There was a light on at Miss Parson's house, but there were no ghosts,小妖精), or Jack-o-Lantems. We climbed up the steps and saw Miss Parson through a window. She was drinking a cup of hot tea.

"Maybe she doesn't celebrate Halloween," Kate said with a sigh, disappointedly.

"Well, even if she doesn't, she usually likes it when we visit her," I said and knocked on the door.

Miss Parson seemed surprised when she opened it and saw our dressing. " Is today Halloween?" she asked. "I completely forgot. I am so sorry!"

注意:
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语;
3. 续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好;
4. 续写完成后,请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1

Miss Parson rushed us into her house.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2

The next morning, a hot and sweet discussion about Miss Parson and Halloween spread among us kids.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . Thousands of people have headed to an area in the western United States to search for a hidden treasure. A wealthy art collector and businessman from the area named Forrest Fenn says he hid the treasure. The searchers follow nine clues (线索) from a poem that Fenn wrote. They consider the poem their “treasure map.”

The treasure hunters believe the prize could be hidden in an area that starts in New Mexico and stretches all the way to the northern state of Montana. Many believe the treasure is real. Others, however, think it does not exist.

An estimated 350, 000 hunters from around the world have come to the area seeking the treasure. One of them is Sacha Johnston. She is a single mother, “I have been hunting for the treasure for five years and I’m not regretful about my choice,” Johnston said. She thinks she has made good progress on guessing some of the clues. So, she’s happy and has kept her search going.

Forrest Fenn spoke to VOA from his home in Santa Fe. The house is filled with priceless art pieces collected over his lifetime. He talked about volunteering to fight in the Vietnam War in 1968 and narrowly escaping death several times during his service.

Fenn said doctors found cancer in his body in 1988 and told him he only had about six months to live. So he decided to put pieces of gold, jewels and other valuables in a bronze box and leave it for others to enjoy after he was gone. But Fenn ended up beating cancer. Years later, in 2010, he decided to hide the box. “I wanted to give people something to look forward to and everyone is hopeful,” he said.

When asked whether he thinks people are close to finding the treasure, Fenn said he really has no idea. “It is possible my treasure box could be found this afternoon, or it could be 100 years or 500 years. Who knows?” he said.

1. According to the first two paragraphs, what can we learn about the treasure hunt?

A．The clues are hidden in nine poems.

B．The searching area is very large.

C．Only a few people have taken part in it.

D．Most people don’t believe the treasure exists.

2. How does Sacha Johnston feel about her hunt?

A．She is uncertain about her hunt.	B．She is tired of her hunt.
C．She is satisfied with her hunt.	D．She is relaxed by her hunt.

3. Why did Forest Fenn start the treasure hunt?

A．To bring people a goal as well as hope.

B．To celebrate his recovery from cancer.

C．To let more people know about his poems.

D．To draw people’s attention to war survivors.

4. The purpose of the passage is to ______.

A．introduce a successful treasure hunter to the readers

B．persuade the readers to join in a treasure hunt

C．show the readers how to be a good treasure hunter

D．tell the readers that a treasure hunt is going on