1 . My brother and I are exactly one year apart. We look like twins, but we are completely _________ . By the time we got to middle school it was clear that my older brother _________ meditation (冥想),while I was a born _________ who preferred the theatrical, even when off stage. I took his relative silence to be offensive. We simply didn't _________.

I didn't _________ having a tense relationship with my brother because I was involved at school. _________, I threw myself into the world of musicals. I practised singing in the bedroom every day to remain at my best and be _________ for roles; my brother would meditate on a window seat. He might feel high school was already hard enough _________ my noisy singing. So space to practise became a（n）_________ between us because we shared a room.

At the start of the semester, I practised “Circle of Life" for a musical. This was the first time I __________ to learn a song, because my voice cracked (破音)as I switched to a head voice. I was annoyed in that period and __________ practising, declaring I had reached the ceiling of my singing career. For the first time in years my brother __________ quiet when I got home.

After two days of this, my brother asked me to __________ him in meditation. Feeling my anger at my inability to manage this song __________,I accepted. My brother said, "When your mind floats away, you simply come back. Don't blame yourself" I got the message, and it soon became my new __________. I kept trying at the song, no longer getting __________ at myself. And just in time for the trial performance, I was able to __________ power in my singing despite the switch to a head voice. It was important for me to learn that you don't have to always get everything __________ the first time and that good things come with continual __________.I now understand why my brother favours the __________.

1.

A．mature

B．different

C．content

D．normal

2.

A．disliked

B．preferred

C．replaced

D．abandoned

3.

A．writer

B．leader

C．painter

D．performer

4.

A．get along

B．drop by

C．show off

D．check in

5.

A．try

B．mind

C．enjoy

D．delay

6.

A．In particular

B．In vain

C．In return

D．In theory

7.

A．humorous

B．ordinary

C．competitive

D．grateful

8.

A．above

B．below

C．near

D．without

9.

A．issue

B．contrast

C．agreement

D．balance

10.

A．struggled

B．expected

C．promised

D．decided

11.

A．began

B．allowed

C．stopped

D．continued

12.

A．hated

B．experienced

C．accepted

D．wanted

13.

A．help

B．invite

C．join

D．admire

14.

A．gracefully

B．suddenly

C．fiercely

D．cautiously

15.

A．limit

B．sentence

C．mistake

D．philosophy

16.

A．rude

B．angry

C．surprised

D．excited

17.

A．lose

B．share

C．reduce

D．maintain

18.

A．wrong

B．right

C．back

D．down

19.

A．luck

B．absence

C．effort

D．fear

20.

A．fight

B．noise

C．quiet

D．safety

2 . I once taught in a small private school. Each morning at nine o'clock all the students, ranging in age from three to seven years old, gathered in the Great Room for a warm-up in preparation for the day.

One morning the headmistress made an announcement to all the children gathered,“Today we begin a great experiment of the mind.” She held up two ivy(常春藤) plants, each potted in an identical container. She continued, “Do they look the same?”

All the children nodded. So did I, for, in this way, I was also a child.

“We will give the plants the same amount of light, the same amount of water, but not the same amount of attention,” She said. “Together we are going to see what will happen when we put one plant in the kitchen away from our attention and the other plant right here in this room. Each day for the next month, we shall sing to our plant in the Great Room and tell it how much we love it, and how beautiful it is. We will use our good minds to think good thoughts about it.”

Four weeks later my eyes were as wide and disbelieving as the children’s. The kitchen plant was leggy and sick-looking, and it hadn’t grown at all. But the Great Room plant, which had been sung to and surrounded by positive thoughts and words, had increased threefold in size with dark leaves that were filled with energy.

In order to prove the experiment, the kitchen ivy was brought to the Great Room to join the other ivy. Within three weeks, the second plant had caught up with the first ivy. Within four weeks, they could not be distinguished, one from the other.

I took this lesson to heart and made it my own.

1. Why did the headmistress do the experiment?

A．She wanted to teach me a lesson.

B．She expected the students to learn to grow plants.

C．She meant to prove the impact of good minds on growth.

D．She intended to show students how to save a sick-looking plant.

2. What happened to the ivy in the kitchen at last?

A．It stopped growing and died.

B．It was leggy and sick with dark leaves.

C．It looked almost the same as the other one.

D．It grew better than the one in the Great Room.

3. What can be a suitable title for the passage?

A．Life Means Growth

B．Things Grow with Love

C．Equality Makes a Difference

D．Positive Thoughts Really Count