Most people want to be happy, but few kn...

One morning, a blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said, “I am blind. Please help me.” There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took out a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote something on it. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by could see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Are you the one who changed my sign this morning? May I know what you wrote?” The man said, “I only wrote the truth, I said what you said but in a different way.” What he had written was, “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was a blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. It reminded you to be thankful for what you have. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1,000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear. The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling.

1.We can learn from the text that the man helped the blind boy by __________.

2. Why did the man come back that afternoon?

3.It can be inferred that the boy was ________ after he found out what the man had written.

4.What is the main idea of the text?

Some teachers are unforgettable. They lead by example and never lose their smile. They change lives. Eileen Madden is one of them. Her students must think she was born with an eraser and a piece of chalk in her hand.

“It’s a joy to get up early every morning to be the first one here,” say the 55-year-old Holy Ghost School third grade teacher. Madden arrives shortly after 6 am to prepare her classroom and work on the school breakfast program.

“My family all went to St. Teresa’s School,” she says. “I always said, ‘One day, I’m going to come back and get one of those big desks.’”

With a watchful eye always on the lookout for “one of those big desks”, Madden returned to St. Teresa after graduating from college and taught second grade at the Olneyville neighborhood elementary school until it was burnt in a fire in 1990 and had to be closed. Madden then went to Holy Ghost School where she started as a second-grade teacher and then moved up one grade level.

“I take care of setting up and serving breakfast,” she says. “In winter it is still dark when I arrive here.” Madden praises Holy Ghost School Principal Carol Soltys and the school’s workers for their continued support. “It’s a family,” she said.

Her class is small this year with 15 students, including some from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Haiti, Guatemala, Nigeria and Ghana. Madden admits that she’s encouraged by her former students, now grown-ups, who want their own children to enjoy a similar experience in a safe, good environment. “They tell others, ‘I send my child to Eileen Madden’s School, ’” she adds.

1.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 suggest?

   A. Eileen Madden was very smart as a child.

   B. Eileen Madden is a very good teacher.

   C. Eileen Madden has done a lot for her students

   D. Eileen Madden always has an eraser in her hand.

2.We can learn from paragraph 2 that Eileen Madden __________.

   A. is in her late fifties now.

B. always teaches Grade 3

   C. often arrives at school very early.

     D. cooks breakfast for all her students by herself.

3.What does Eileen Madden most probably think of the workers of Holy Ghost School?

   A. Lazy but kind

     B. Careful but helpless

   C. Hard to get along with

     D. Kind and helpful.

4.The last paragraph suggests that ______________.

   A. Eileen Madden often gives lessons to small classes.

   B. Eileen Madden is remembered by all her former students.

   C. Eileen Madden thinks her former students think too highly of her.

   D. Eileen Madden’s former students are very happy to let her teach their children.

5.What is implied in the passage?

   A. Holy Ghost School is a very small school.

   B. St. Teresa’s School will be open again soon.

   C. Eileen Madden decided to be a teacher when she was young.

   D. Eileen Madden was very happy to leave St. Teresa’s School.

Some diaries from Jackie Chan’s blog

January 4, 2009

  Lately I’ve been busy in Beijing having meetings to discuss my new movie. I also attended John Wu’s ceremony（典礼）of his new movie, Red Cliff, which took two years to complete. I’m good friends with the director John Wu and the main actor Tony Leung.

January 5, 2009

Today I went to record a television program for Beijing TV called Volunteers Across China. This TV program is a large-scale reality show that is based on the idea that “good people reap good rewards” and it hopes to encourage people to be more aware and help the “good people” who are in difficult situations.

January 6, 2009

     I’m very pleased to announce that my Jackie Chan automobile website is set up and officially operating! I hope that through this automotive website, I can get in touch with more people who want to buy cars.

January 7, 2009

Today, I went to record a song called Zhongguo Nian. This song was written by Chang Shilei. I sing this song together with Tan Jing. Chang Shilei is a naturally talented musician. He also has an interesting habit. His piano is placed next to his bed. When he wakes up, he plays the piano until he’s tired, and then he lies down on his bed to sleep.

January 9, 2009

Today I met with the producer and director of Longwei Xiaozi ,and I also brought along my friend’s daughter for a screen test. Although my friend’s daughter grew up in China, her English is very good and it just happened by chance that this movie needs a young actress for a part, so I took her along to audition（试演）.

1.What might be the best title for this passage?

A. My new movie.           B. My busy life.

C. My good friend.           D. My favorite song.

2. The TV program Volunteers Across China tries to

A. find some rich people who are able to help the poor.

B. encourage people to look after the young.

C. ask people to help “good people” who are in trouble.

D. make China more and more famous all over the word.

3.The underlined word “announce” in the third paragraph means

   A. tell sb sth officially

  B. tell sb what you think

C. tell sb to do sth

D. say that sth must happen

4.With whom does the author sing the song Zhongguo Nian ?

   A. John Wu.      B. Tony Leung.       C. Chang Shilei.       D. Tan Jing.

5.What can we infer from the text?

   A. It took the author two years to finish the movie Red Cliff.

B. People who are in trouble can ask Beijing TV for help.

C. Chang Shilei is a famous actor who is good at playing the piano.

D. Longwei Xiaozi needs a young actress for a part who can speak English well.

For a while, my neighborhood was taken ever by an army of joggers. They were there all the time: early morning, noon, and evening. There were little old ladies in gray sweats, young couples in Adidas shoes, middle-aged men with red faces. “Come on!” My friend Alex encouraged me to join him as he jogged by my house every evening. “You’ll feel great.”

   Well, I had nothing against feeling great and if Alex could jog every day, anyone could. So I took up jogging seriously and gave it a good two months of my life, and not a day more. Based on my experience, jogging is the most overvalued form of exercise around, and judging from the number of the people who left our neighborhood jogging army, I’m not alone in my opinion.

   First of all, jogging is very hard on the body. Your legs and feet need a real pounding（追击）running down a road for two or three miles. I developed foot, leg, and back problems. Then I read about a nationally famous jogger who died of a heart attack while jogging, and I had something else to worry about. Jogging doesn’t kill hundreds of people, but if you have any physical weaknesses, jogging will surely bring them out, as they did with me.

   Secondly, I got no enjoyment out of jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other for forty-five minutes isn’t my idea of fun. Jogging is also a lonely pastime. Some joggers say, “I love being out there with just my thoughts” Well, my thoughts began to bore me, and most of them were on how much my legs hurt.

    And how could I enjoy something that brought me pain? And that wasn’t just the first week: it was practically every day for two months. I never got past the pain level, and pain isn’t fun. What a cruel way to do it! So many other exercises, including walking, lead to almost the same results painlessly, so why jog?

   I don’t jog any more, and I don’t think I ever will. I’m walking two miles three times a week at a fast pace, and that feels good. I bicycle to work when the weather is good. I’m getting exercise, and I’m enjoying it at the same time. I could never say the same for jogging, and I’ve found a lot of better ways to stay in shape.

1.From the first paragraph, we learn that in the writer’s neighborhood ______.

A. jogging became very popular

B. people jogged only during the daytime

C. Alex organized an army of joggers

D. jogging provided a chance to get together

2.The underlined word “them”(Paragraph 3) most probably refers to _____.

A. heart attacks     B. Back problems

C. famous joggers   D. physical weaknesses

3.What was the writer’s attitude towards jogging in the beginning?

A. He felt it was worth a try.

B. He was very fond of it.

C. He was strongly against it.

D. He thought it must be painful.

4.Why did the writer give up jogging two months later?

A. He disliked doing exercise outside.

B. He found it neither healthy nor interesting.

C. He was afraid of having a heart attack.

D. He was worried about being left alone.

5. From the writer’s experience, we can conclude that______.

A. not everyone enjoys jogging

B. he is the only person who hates jogging

C. nothing other than jogging can help people keep fit

D. jogging makes people feel greater than any other sport.

One night recently, I was driving down a highway at about 60 miles an hour. A car came from the _21_ direction at about the same speed. As we _22_ each other, I looked into the driver’s eyes for a second. I  23  whether he might be thinking, as I was, how  24  we were on each other at that moment. I was relying on him not to fall  25  , not to cross over into my lane (车道) and bring my  26   to a sudden end. He relied on me in just the same way without doubt.

I believe that is the way the world _27 . At some level, we all depend upon one another. Sometimes that dependence requires us simply not to cross over the double yellow line. Sometimes it requires us to _28  cooperatively, with friends or even  29 .

_30 technology makes our world smaller, the need increases for cooperation. In 2003, doctors in five nations were encouraged to find the causes of SARS, saving thousands of lives. The  31 of international terrorism has shown itself to be a similar problem, one requiring the            32  across the world. We must  33  that our future is not controlled by ourselves alone.

I’ve come to believe that one must rely upon the good faith and judgment of others. So, while  34  alone down a dark road, we must know the coming light may not be a danger, but a         35  moment of trust.

1.A. same                  B. opposite                  C. near                    D. far

2.A. passed                 B. caught                 C. blamed                    D. reminded

3. A. asked                B. searched                  C. repeated               D. wondered

4.A. friendly             B. strange               C. dependent           D. confident

5.A. ill                    B. asleep                 C. away                        D. apart

6. A. car                B. trip                       C. journey                  D. life

7.A. forms                 B. runs                C. works                   D. appears

8.A. act                           B. walk                         C. stay                         D. travel

9.A. strangers     B. relatives                    C. colleagues                  D. animals

10. A. But                 B. If                         C. As                             D. After

11.A. arrival                      B. organization                C. development                 D. threat

12.A. efforts                   B. practice                    C. fighting                       D. forces

13.A. hope                   B. decide                     C. recognize                  D. face

14.A. sitting                B. standing                   C. flying          D. driving

15.A. closed                   B. shared                     C. broken                     D. concerned