Imagination and fantasy can play an important role in achieving the things we fear. Children know this very well. Fred Epstein ,in his book If I Make It to Five, tells a story he heard from one of friends about Tom, a four-year-old boy with a cancer in his back bone. He came through several operations and a lot of pain by mastering his imagination.
Tom loved to pretend, and he particularly loved to play superheroes ,Dr. Epstein explained that it was actually a brilliant way for his young mind to handle the terrifying and painful life he led.
The day before his third trip to the operating room, Tom was terribly afraid. ”Maybe I could go as Superman ,”he whispered to his mom. Hearing this, the mother hesitated for a while. She had avoided buying the expensive costume（戏装），finally she agreed.
The next day Tom appeared as the powerful Superman, showing off through the hospital halls and coolly waving his hand to the people greeting him along the way. And Tom, with the strength of his fantasy, successfully made it through the operation.
The power of imagination need not be reserved for children only. We all have the power to use our fantasies to attempt things we never thought possible, to go through those things that seem impossible, and to achieve what we never believed we could. Just as Dr. Epstein puts it ,”If you can dream it, you can do it”
It doesn‘t mean that you should dress as a superhero for your next job interview. But, next time you are texted in a way that seems impossible, imagine what it would take to overcome it .Become the person you need to become to win over your challenge and do it in your mind first. So, let your imagination run wild, and dare to dream.
1.What do we know about Tom?
A．He was seriously ill B．He was a dishonest boy.
C．He was crazy about magic D．He was Dr.Epstein’s patient
2.What can be inferred about Tom’s mother?
A．She was a rich lady B．She refused Tom’s request
C．She wanted Tom to be a superhero D．She wanted to get Tom through the pain
3.When Tom went for the third operation,he .
A．pretended to be painful B．acted like a superhero
C．appeared in poor spirit s D．argued with his mother
4.In the last paragraph, you are advised .
A．to go through some difficult tests
B．to wake up from your wild dreams
C．to become a powerful person in your mind
D．to wear expensive clothes for job interviews
5.What is the purpose of the passage?
A．To tell us an interesting story.
B．To help us make right decisions.
C．To advise us to care about children.
D．To encourage us to use our imagination.
One day, Nick invited his friends to supper. He was cooking some delicious food in the kitchen .Suddenly, he 1. （find）that he had run out of salt. So Nick called to his son,” Go to the Village and buy some salt, but pay a fair price for it: neither too much 2. too little.”
His son looked surprised. ”I can understand why I shouldn’t pay too much, Father, but if I can pay less, 3. not save a bit of money?”
“That would be a very 4. （reason）thing to do in a big city, but it could destroy a small village like ours,” Nick said.
Nick’s guests, 5. had heard their conversation, asked why they should not buy salt more cheaply if they could. Nick replied,” The only reason a man would sell salt 6. a lower price would be because he was desperate for money. And anyone who took advantage of that situation would be showing a lack of respect 7. the sweat and struggle of the man who worked very hard to produce it.”
“But such a small thing couldn’t 8. （possible）destroy a village.”
“In the beginning, there was only 9. very small amount of unfairness in the world, but everyone added a little ,always 10. （think）that it was only small and not very important ,and look where we have ended up today.”
Number sense is not the ability to count. It is the ability to recognize a 1 in number. Human beings are born with this ability. 2 , experiments show that many animals are, too. For example, many birds have good number sense. If a nest has four eggs and you remove one, the bird will not 3 .However, if you remove two, the bird 4 leaves. This means that the bird knows the 5 between two and three.
Another interesting experiment showed a bird's 6 number sense. A man was trying to take a photo of a crow（乌鸦）that had a nest in a tower, but the crow always left when she saw him coming. The bird did not 7 until the man left the tower. The man had an 8 .He took another man with him to the tower. One man left and the other stayed, but they did not 9 the bird. The crow stayed away until the second man left, too. The experiment was 10 with three men and then with four men. But the crow did not return to the nest until all the men were 11 .It was not until five men went into the tower and only four left that they were 12 able to fool the crow.
How good is a human's number sense? It's not very good. For example, babies about fourteen months old almost always notice if something is taken away from a 13 group. But when the number goes beyond three or four, the children are 14 fooled.
It seems that number sense is something we have in common with many animals in this world, and that our human 15 is not much better than a crow's.
1. A．rise B．pattern C．change D．trend
2. A．Importantly B．Surprisingly C．Disappointedly D．Fortunately
3. A．survive B．care C．hatch D．notice
4. A．generally B．sincerely C．casually D．deliberately
5. A．distance B．range C．different D．interval
6. A．amazing B．annoying C．satisfying D．disturbing
7. A．relax B．recover C．react D．return
8. A．appointment B．excuse C．idea D．explanation
9. A．fool B．hurt C．catch D．kill
10. A．reported B．repeated C．designed D．approved
11. A．confused B．gone C．tired D．drunk
12. A．gradually B．luckily C．strangely D．finally
13. A．single B．small C．local D．new
14. A．seldom B．temporarily C．merely D．often
15. A．sight B．nature C．ability D．belief
I had hoped to take a holiday this year but I wasn’t able to ______.
A．get away B．drop in C．check out D．hold on
While she was in Paris, she developed a _____ for fine art.
A．way B．relation C．taste D．habit
We have launched another man-made satellite, ______ is announced in today’s newspaper.
A．that B．which C．who D．what
