When I was eight or nine years old, I wrote my first poem. My mother read the little poem and began to cry. “Buddy, you didn’t really write this beautiful, beautiful poem!”
Shyly, proud-bursting, I stammered that I had. She poured out her praise. Why, this poem was nothing short of genius! I glowed.
I spent the best part of that afternoon preparing for the arrival of my father. But he did not return until an hour late for dinner. “Ben, a beautiful thing has happened,” my mother began. “Buddy has written his first poem! And it’s beautiful, absolutely amazing.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to decide that for myself,” Father said.
That poem was only ten lines. But it seemed to take hours. I could hear my father breathing. “I think it’s lousy,” my father said.
“Ben, these are the first lines of poetry he’s ever written,” my mother was saying. “He needs encouragement.”
They quarreled over it. I couldn’t stand it another second. I ran from the dinning room bawling.
Up in my room I threw myself on the bed and sobbed.
A few years later I took a second look at that first poem; it was a pretty lousy poem. But it wasn’t until years later that the true meaning of that painful “first poem” experience dawned on me. As I became a professional writer, it became clearer and clearer to me how fortunate I had been. I had a mother who said, “Buddy, did you really write this? I think it’s wonderful!” and a father who shook his head no and drove me to tears with “I think it’s lousy.” A writer — in fact every one of us in life — needs that loving-mother force from which all creation flows; and yet alone it is incomplete, even misleading, finally destructive, without the father force to caution, “Watch. Listen. Review. Improve.”
1. How do you understand the underlined part in Paragraph 2?(no more than 8 words )2. Why did the writer’s parents quarrel at dinner?(no more than 10 words )
3. What did the writer think of his first poem when he grew older?(no more than 8 words )
4. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?(no more than 15 words )
5. What kind of parents do you need in life?(no more than 20 words )
2 . It’s nice to feel like a hero or to be the centre of attention every once in a while. Walking barefoot down the worm road, cheered on by the villagers of Bradstone, one would have thought that I should feel full of pride and joy. Those feelings might have been nice, except for this one tiny fact: I had no idea where I was heading, even when I heard my name being shouted out upon entering the village.
Earlier, after painfully recovering consciousness beside the road, the only important things I could remember were my name, Jonathan Grey, and a horribly uncomfortable feeling that I had forgotten something which could result in life or death. So I had followed the road. Shortly I noticed that I had somehow also lost track of my shoes.
I had ended up in Bradstone. Many villagers hurried over and screamed my name. One older woman particularly threw her arms around my waist. “ You made it! I knew you were special,” she cried, “My baby is finally home! ” At a loss for words, with no idea what to do, the best I could offer the crying woman was to put my arms around her, too. When she settled down, she pulled back to look at me properly. “How are you? Really? Oh, you will have to report to Mr. Fredrick first… ”
I was not sure how to answer the woman’s — my mother’s? — questions, so I decided to be honest. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure who Mr. Freddrick is, or what I must report to him. ”
My mother took a deep breath, then took my hand to lead me into the house. “ Your father will be home soon, so get settled in. I’ll be outside if you need me. ” Taking one last look around, my mother let out a sigh. For the time being, home this would have to be. Breathing deeply, I gathered my courage and mentally prepared myself for what was now my new life.
1. What can we know about Jonathan?| A．He enjoyed the welcome he received. | B．The villagers were very sorry for him. |
| C．He had never been the centre of attention. | D．The villagers knew who he was. |
| A．He felt relieved. | B．He was in pain. |
| C．He forgot his name. | D．He regained his memories. |
| A．He would not let her go. | B．He recognized his mother. |
| C．He didn’t know how to reply. | D．He was glad to have found her. |
| A．He tried to make his mother pleased. |
| B．He was worried about meeting his father. |
| C．He was uncertain if he had the courage for a new life. |
| D．He decided to temporarily accept the present situation. |
3 . Auntie Zeny took care of me from the time I was born until I was 15. She didn’t join us for
It was
After leaving Hong Kong to attend high school in the USA, and
Now, my parents regularly send some of their allowance to Auntie Zeny to show their
| A．talks | B．games | C．parties | D．meals |
| A．separately | B．quickly | C．secretly | D．sadly |
| A．signed | B．persuaded | C．ordered | D．encouraged |
| A．opinion | B．solution | C．point | D．sense |
| A．necessary | B．hard | C．possible | D．important |
| A．ignore | B．blame | C．leave | D．defend |
| A．complain | B．talk | C．tease | D．comment |
| A．explanations | B．reasons | C．advice | D．evidence |
| A．agreeing | B．fighting | C．claiming | D．offering |
| A．basically | B．eventually | C．briefly | D．consequently |
| A．understanding | B．missing | C．amusing | D．praising |
| A．time | B．health | C．feelings | D．savings |
| A．unknown | B．unqualified | C．unwelcome | D．unimportant |
| A．fried | B．shared | C．healthy | D．formal |
| A．admiration | B．kindness | C．understanding | D．appreciation |
1.你最感激的人是谁；
2.为什么感激他/她；
3.如何感恩。
注意：1.词数 100 左右;
2.首句已为你写好。
Hello, boys and girls,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your listening.
5 . Growing up, I understood one thing about my dad: He knew everything. I asked him questions and he gave me
But then, eventually, I
Then, this past summer, my dad said that he once spent a summer in college building boats. “You did?” I asked. I thought I knew everything about my dad. However, I never knew this. I
A few weeks later, I called my parents. Dad answered. “Hi, sweetie. Here’s Mom.,” he said.
| A．reminders | B．reports | C．responses | D．reasons |
| A．rent | B．view | C．use | D．fix |
| A．knew | B．needed | C．missed | D．saw |
| A．knowledge | B．resource | C．freedom | D．character |
| A．arrangement | B．meeting | C．performance | D．conversation |
| A．explanation | B．tension | C．silence | D．exchange |
| A．certainly | B．usually | C．hardly | D．particularly |
| A．acquired | B．shared | C．gathered | D．stressed |
| A．proved | B．complained | C．guessed | D．realized |
| A．shame | B．doubt | C．shock | D．pity |
| A．Lucky | B．Eager | C．Ready | D．Happy |
| A．aimed at | B．got through | C．stuck to | D．ended up |
| A．normal | B．long | C．personal | D．serious |
| A．advance | B．opportunity | C．beginning | D．agreement |
| A．learn | B．want | C．promise | D．prepare |
