Suppose you want to bring home a new cat...

It was a Sunday morning, and I was in a terrible mood. Two of my friends had gone to the movies the night before and hadn’t invited me. I was in my room thinking of ways to make them sorry when my father came in. “Want to go for a ride, today, Beck? It’s a beautiful day.”

“No! Leave me alone!” Those were the last words I said to him that morning.

My friends called and invited me to go to the mall with them a few hours later. I forgot to be mad at them and went with them. I came home to find a note on the table. My mother put it where I would be sure to see it. “Dad has had an accident. Please meet us at Highland Park Hospital”.

When I reached the hospital, my mother came out and told me my father’s injuries were extensive. “Your father told the driver to leave him alone and just call 911, thank God! If he had moved Daddy, there’s no telling what might have happened. A broken rib(肋骨) might have pierced(穿透) a lung....”

My mother may have said more, but I didn’t hear. I didn’t hear anything except those terrible words: Leave me alone. My dad said them to save himself from being hurt more. How much had I hurt him when I hurled those words at him earlier in the day?

It was several days later that he was finally able to have a conversation. I held his hand gently, afraid of hurting him.

“Daddy... I am so sorry....”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll be okay.”

“No,” I said, “I mean about what I said to you that day. You know, that morning?”

My father could no more tell a lie than he could fly. He looked at me and said, “Sweetheart, I don’t remember anything about that day, not before, during or after the accident. I remember kissing you goodnight the night before, though.” He managed a weak smile.

My English teacher once told me that words have immeasurable power. They can hurt or they can heal. And we all have the power to choose our words. I intend to do that very carefully from now on.

1.The author was in bad mood that morning because _______.

2.Why did the author say sorry to his father in the hospital?

3. The reason why the author’s father said he forgot everything about that day is that _______.

4.What lesson did Beck learn from the matter?

Eight-year-old Jesse Arbogast was playing in the sea late one evening in July when a 7-foot bull shark attacked him and tore off his arm. Jesse’s uncle jumped into the sea and dragged the boy to shore. The boy was not breathing. His aunt gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation(人工呼吸) while his uncle rang the emergency services. Pretty soon, a helicopter arrived and flew the boy to hospital. It was a much quicker journey than the journey by road.

Jesse’s uncle, Vance Folsenzier, ran back into the sea and found the shark that had attacked his nephew. He picked the shark up and threw it onto the beach. A coastguard shot the fish four times and although this did not kill it, the shark’s jaws relaxed so that they could open them, and reach down into its stomach, and pull out the boys’ arm.

At the Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, Dr Ian Rogers spent eleven hours reattaching Jesse’s arm. “It was a complicated operation,” he said, “but we were lucky. If the arm hadn’t been recovered in time, we wouldn’t have been able to do the operation at all. What I mean is that if they hadn’t found the shark, we wouldn’t have had a chance.”

According to the local park ranger Jack Tomosvic, shark attacks are not that common. “Jesse was just unlucky,” he says, “evening is the shark’s feeding time. And Jesse was in an area without lifeguards. This would never have happened if he had been in an area where swimming is allowed.”

When reporters asked Jesse’s uncle how he had had the courage to fight against a shark, he replied, “I was mad and you do some strange things when you’re mad.”

1.What was the boy doing when the accident happened?

2. In which way did the boy’s uncle help with the operation?

3.How was his uncle in time of danger?

4.According to Jack Tomosvic, _______.

根据下列句子及所给汉语注释，在相应的横线上写出各单词的正确形式。

1.He was deeply ________ (留下印象) by his speech.

2.As we know, there are seven ________ (大洲) in the world.

3.We were ________ (使…相信) that the film was worth seeing.

4.Please ________ (观察) the two pants carefully and tell me the differences.

5.The heroes in his novel were  ________ (以……为基础)on the workers here.

6.He suggested the classrooms should be ________ (配以设备) with computers.

7.Look at the kite. It’s ________ (漂浮) on the surface of the water.

8.The boy ________ (道歉) to his teacher for being late for class yesterday.

9.All these rules will ________（使…受益）everyone here.

10.Football is played ________ （遍及）the world.

11.You can ________ (咨询) your teacher if you have problems with your study.

12. New Zealand is ________ (包围)by the Pacific Ocean to the north and east.

13.Kids should be ________（保护）from all that violence.

14.“I don’t like the film,” he ________ (低语) to me.

15. It is good manners to show ________（尊重）to the old.

My son. The phrase felt difficult and strange the first time I said it, and I had to practice it a thousand times． I started saying the words to myself the day when the ultrasound told me we were having a baby．

Finally, my son was born.

The nurse came out of the delivery room, holding a tiny, howling human being wrapped in a white sheet, his small hands and delicate fingers shaking nervously. “Baby Sanchez?” she asked, looking at the room full of expectant fathers.

I stood up, holding my breath． She showed me my baby． “My son,” I whispered. The little guy screamed, “waaaaaaaaaah.”

But in my heart I heard him cry out, “Daaaaaaad!” I don’t care if everyone in the room will swear they didn’t hear my baby say that. I called him, “My son,” and he called me “Dad,” and that’s that.

People ask me, “What did you feel at that moment?” I can’t even begin to answer. I’m a writer yet I try hard to find the right words. Joyful isn’t powerful enough. Bliss(狂喜) is not sweet enough. Peaceful isn’t calm enough. Happy isn’t tense enough.

After my son was taken away to the nursery, I sat down and shut my eyes. But tears escaped them away. Then out of the blue, my 80-year-old father entered, and we embraced.

“Dad,” I whispered.

“My son,” my heart heard him saying.

Suddenly the past 33 years folded into the present and I was now the baby bundled in white, with my father standing over me.

“My son,” I imagined him saying.

“Daaaaaaaaaad!” I cried my little lungs out.

At that point, I knew I was going to be a great father. The old man in front of me seemed to agree. He smiled and we walked out of the room in search of the tiny human being that would change our lives for ever.

1.Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the passage?

2.The author couldn’t tell how he felt at the moment because ________．

3.We can learn the following from the passage EXCEPT that ________．

4.Why was the writer sure he was going to be a great father?

For many years, I had a belief that my suffering was due to my size. I believed that when the weight disappeared, it would take old wounds, hurts, and rejections with it.

Many weight－conscious people also mistakenly believe that changing our bodies will fix everything. Perhaps our worst mistake is believing that being thin equals being loved，being special, and being cherished. We fantasize（幻想） about what it will be like when we reach the long－awaited goal. We work very hard to realize this dream. Then, at last, we find ourselves there.

But we often gain back what we have lost. Even so, we continue to believe that next time it will be different. Next time, we will keep it off. Next time, being thin will finally fulfill its promise of everlasting happiness, self－worth, and, of course, love.

It took me a long while to realize that there was something more for me to learn about beauty. Beauty standards vary with culture. In Samoa a woman is not considered attractive unless she weighs more than 200 pounds. More importantly, if it’s happiness that we want, why not put our energy there rather than on the size of our body? Why not look inside? Many of us strive hard to change our body, but in vain. We have to find a way to live comfortably inside our body and make friends with and cherish ourselves. When we change our attitudes toward ourselves, the whole world changes.

1.The passage tries to highlight the importance of ________.

2.What does the word “everything” in paragraph 2 mean?

3.What can be inferred about the author?

4.According to the author, what is the common view of those who have lost some weight first and gained it back later?