I was working as a consultant in a beer company, helping the president and senior vice-presidents form and carry out their new planning projects. It was really a great challenge.
At the same time, my mother was in the final stages of cancer.
I worked during the day and drove 40 miles home to be with her every night. It was tiring and stressful, but it was what I wanted to do. My commitment was to continue to do excellent consulting during the day, even though my evenings were very hard. I didn’t want to bother the president with my situation, yet I felt someone at the company needed to know what was going on. So I told the vice-president of Human Resources, asking him not to share the information with anyone.
A few days later, the president called me into his office.
I figured he wanted to talk to me about one of the many issues we were working on. When I entered, he asked me to sit down. He faced me from across his large desk, looked at me in the eye and said, “I hear your mother is very ill”.
I was totally caught by surprise and burst into tears. He just looked at me, let my crying subside(平息), and then gently said a sentence I will never forget: whatever you need.
That was it. His understanding and his willingness to both let me be in my pain and to offer me everything were qualities of sympathy（同情）that I carry with me to this day.
1.When the author was working in a beer company, his mother .
A．was concerned about him B．drew the president’s attention
C．was seriously ill D．was proud of her son
2.Although he felt tired and stressed, he felt it his duty .
A．to help plan some new projects
B．to avoid bothering the president
C．to tell the vice-president his difficult situation
D．to do his job well and look after his mother
3.Most probably, the president got the information from .
A．a relative of the author’s B．the vice-president
C．the author’s good friends D．the author’s workmates
4.Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
A．Understanding Is Nowhere B．Generous President
C．Sympathy Is Needed D．An Unforgettable Memory
Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time: if corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people’s.
In the same way, children are learning to do all the other things: they learn to do without being taught to walk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle, compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes and correct them for himself. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.
If it is a matter of right answer, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine(常规) work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can’t find the way to get the right answer. Let the children learn what all educated persons must some day learn, how to judge their own understanding, and how to know what they know or do not know.
1.The first paragraph is written mainly to _________.
A．give advice on children’s language learning
B．tell us the fewer mistakes we correct, the better children will learn a language
C．suggest children are often too stubborn to accept advice
D．lead to the topic of the passage
2.Which of the following does the writer think teachers should NOT do?
A．Give children correct answers.
B．Allow children to make mistakes.
C．Point out children’s mistakes to them.
D．Let children mark their own work.
3.According to the writer, teachers in school should ________.
A．allow children to learn from each other
B．point out children’s mistakes whenever found
C．give children more book knowledge
D．correct children’s mistakes as soon as possible
4.According to the passage, the best way for children to learn things is by _______.
A．listening to skilled people’s advice
B．asking older people many questions
C．making mistakes and having them corrected
D．doing what other people do
Laptop computers are popular all over the world. People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.
Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of a ＄10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. In addition, they will be able to use e-mail to “speak” with their teachers, their classmates, and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fast-food restaurant or under the trees——anywhere at all!
Because of the many changes in computer technology , laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers. In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State higher-education officials are studying how laptops can help students. State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.
At Westlake College, more than 60 percent of the staff use computers. The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons. As one Westlake teacher said, “ Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we’re giving students a window on the world. They can see everything and do everything.”
1.The main purpose of the laptop program is to give each student a laptop to ________.
A．use for their schoolwork B．search the Internet
C．work at home D．connect them to libraries
2.Which of the following is true about Westlake College?
A．All teachers use computers.
B．1500 students have laptops.
C．It is an old college in America.
D．Students there can do everything.
3.“a window on the world” in the last paragraph means that students can ________.
A．attend lectures on information technology
B．travel around the world
C．get information from around the world
D．have free laptops
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A．The program is terrible.
B．The program is not workable.
C．The program is too expensive.
D．We don’t know the result yet.
For many young people, having to attend school with a parent would be their worst nightmare. However, Senior 1 student Li Qinmei is happy taking her father with her as long as she can go to classes. He is disabled and unable to take care of himself.
The 16-year-old country girl in Zhucheng, Shandong Province has experienced one disaster after another in her short life. Li lost her mother at three. Four years later, her father became paralyzed after a tractor accident. At 12, her misfortune returned with the death of her grandma. Since then she has been forced to shoulder all the responsibility for her broken family.
Li learnt to cook and managed to live a life with an allowance of only 24 yuan per month. The most difficult thing she had to deal with was helping her father bathe, dress and use the toilet as he could hardly move.
"I felt embarrassed, and so did my dad. It was really hard at the beginning," she recalled.
During most of her junior school years, Li went to classes only once a month as her father was seriously ill at the time.
"I taught myself at home and asked teachers for help on my school days," she explained.
Li's hard work paid off this fall. She was admitted by Zhucheng No 1 High School, a local key school, based on her good performance in the entrance exams.
The school offered Li and her father a room on campus to live in so she could look after him during breaks.
Once in a while, Li felt sad when she saw her classmates going shopping or hanging out with friends.
"I envy them sometimes because they have both mum and dad to look after them. However, I soon feel relieved as I still have my dad with me," she said.
Li admitted that the difficulties in life had taught her to be strong.
"I believe I will go on and continue my studies at a good university," she said, in a confident tone.
Her teacher Mr. Wang has the same belief. Li made great progress in the recent monthly exams. "She works hard and is always eager to excel . It's not easy for her never to be late for school, but she has managed to make it work," Wang said.
1.Li Qinmei has to shoulder the family because ________.
A．her father was badly injured in a car accident
B．her mother passed away when she was 3
C．her grandma died when she was 12
D．misfortune in her life forced her to do so
2.From the passage we can infer that _________.
A．Li Qinmei doesn’t like others talking about her father
B．many young students hate going to school with their parents
C．Li Qinmei has made little progress in her study
D．Li Qinmei has lost three relatives and has to take care of her father
3.What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase “hanging out” in the passage?_________.
A．playing outside B．working hard C．exchanging ideas D．talking happily
4.What’s the best title of the story?
A．Difficulties make strong
B．A touching story
C．A strong-minded girl-Li Qinmei
D．Li Qinmei’s successful study life
I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store. A nicely dressed little girl was 31 the teddy bears beside her father 32 she saw a little boy walk in and stop in front of the Pokémon toys. His jacket was obviously too small. He had money in his hand. 33 , it seemed to add up to five dollars at most. He was with his father as well, and kept 34 the Pokémon video games. Each time he showed one to his father, his father 35 his head, “No”.
Rather 36 , the boy gave up the video games and chose a picture book 37 . After they walked away, the little girl ran over to the Pokémon video games. She excitedly picked up one 38 on top of the others, and raced down toward the check-out. I picked up my purchases(购买物) and 39 the girl and her father.
Then much to her 40 , the little boy and his father got in line 41 her and me. After the video was paid for and bagged, the little girl 42 it back to the cashier(收银员) and said something secret to her. The cashier smiled and put the 43 under the counter(柜台). I was putting things in my bag when the little boy 44 the cashier. The cashier said, “Congratulations, you’re my hundredth customer today, and you win a(n) 45 !” and she handed the boy the Pokémon game. The boy could only stood there 46 . It was, he said, 47 what he had wanted! The little girl and her father had been standing at the doorway, and I saw the biggest and sweetest smile on her face I have 48 seen in my life.
I suddenly understood that the world is not 49 into the strong who care and the weak who are 50 . We must each in turn care and be cared.
1. A．looking through B．getting through C．dressing up D．packing up
2. A．once B．while C．after D．when
3. A．Then B．Therefore C．However D．Otherwise
4. A．playing B．electing C．watching D．selecting
5. A．shook B．nodded C．moved D．held
6. A．anxious B．upset C．annoyed D．concerned
7. A．either B．lastly C．instead D．indeed
8. A．laying B．lying C．attaching D．belonging
9. A．led B．chased C．drove D．followed
10. A．satisfaction B．surprise C．interest D．happiness
11. A．between B．before C．behind D．beyond
12. A．put B．handed C．sent D．carried
13. A．basket B．bag C．bear D．gift
14. A．ran up to B．ran away from C．got away from D．came up to
15. A．award B．reward C．prize D．price
16. A．in trouble B．in silence C．in relief D．in doubt
17. A．extremely B．only C．exactly D．wonderfully
18. A．seldom B．frequently C．ever D．hardly
19. A．divided B．changed C．included D．cut
20. A．cared for B．devoted to C．turned to D．thought of
Yosemite National Park has the best collection of native plants. ______, it contains a great number of trees and flowers from overseas.
A．In addition B．In return C．In reward D．In reality
