Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis, Cricket—anything with a round ball, I was useless." he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England's rural Devonshire.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway's school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man's cold-water exploits（成就）. Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.
Journeys to the Pole aren't the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy." John Ridgway was one of the few who didn't say, 'You are completely crazy,'" Saunders says.
In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter（遭遇）with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he's skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.
This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.
1.The turning point in Saunders' life came when _________.
A. he started to play ball games
B. he got a mountain bike at age 15
C. he ran his first marathon at age 18
D. he started to receive Ridgway's training
2.We can learn from the text that Ridgway __________.
A. dismissed Saunders' dream as fantasy
B. built up his body together with Saunders
C. hired Saunders for his cold-water experience
D. won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic
3.What do we know about Saunders_________?
A. He once worked at a school in Scotland.
B. He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.
C. He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.
D. He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.
4.The underlined word "Intrigued" in the third paragraph probably means_________.
A. Excited B. Convinced
C. Delighted D. Fascinated
5.It can be inferred tat Saunders' journey to the North Pole __________.
A. was accompanied by his old playmates
B. set a record in the North Pole expedition
C. was supported by other Arctic explorers
D. made him well-known in the 1960s
Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car’s back end by just inches!
The driver of the other car, who almost caused a big accident, started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call “The Law of the Garbage Truck. ”
Many people are like garbage （rubbish） trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You’ll be happy with what you did.
I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets? It was that day I said, “I’m not going to do anymore.”
Successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? If you let more garbage trucks pass you by, you’ll be happier. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don’t.
1.What happened one day when the author was taking a taxi?
A. The taxi almost hit another car.
B. The taxi driver was injured.
C. The author scolded the driver of the other car.
D. The author learned a lesson from the driver of the garbage truck.
2.How did the taxi driver respond to the behavior of the driver of the black car?
A. He yelled back at the driver.
B. He sent the driver to the hospital.
C. He was friendly towards the driver.
D. He dumped some garbage in front of his car.
3.What does the taxi driver think of people according to Paragraph 3?
A. Many people like to drive garbage trucks.
B. Many people dump garbage wherever they like.
C. Many people are warm-hearted to make others happy.
D. Many people tend to be very much depressed.
4.What can we infer from Paragraph 4?
A. The author used to have a lot of garbage trucks.
B. The author used to complain a lot.
C. The author used to have a lot of money.
D. The author used to be a good manager.
5.According to the passage, what should you do if people “dump garbage” on you?
A. Ignore them and go on with our own work.
B. Try our best to persuade them not to do that again.
C. Tell them to dump the garbage in the right place.
D. Take over their work and carry the garbage to somewhere else.
An old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and 4-year-old grandson. The old man’s hands , his eyesight was not clear, and his unsteady（不稳定的）. The family were every night at the dinner table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and sight made this rather difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, would often spill（洒落）onto the tablecloth. “We must do something about grandfather,” said the husband.
So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, grandfather ate in the corner while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner at the dinner table. grandfather had already broken a dish or two, his food was served in a bowl. Sometimes, when the family grandfather, he had a tear in his eye as he ate alone. , the only words the couple had for him were sharp when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The 4-year-old boy watched all this .
One evening before supper, the father his son playing with wood scraps（小块）on the floor. He asked the child sweetly: “What are you making?” Just as , the boy answered: “Oh, I am making a little for you and mama to eat your food from when I grow up.” The 4-year-old boy smiled and went back to on it.
The words the parents so much that they were . Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. no word was spoken, both knew what they had to do. That evening, the husband took grandfather’s hand and led him back to the family table.
1.A. wounded B. moved C. trembledD. dragged
2.A. step B. feetC. speech D. body
3.A. awayB. togetherC. asleep D. apart
4.A. losingB. failing C. disappearingD. rising
5.A. foodB. panC. milkD. dinner
6.A. aloneB. casuallyC. steadilyD. bitterly
7.A. AfterB. SinceC. While D. When
8.A. smallB. safeC. bigD. wooden
9.A. glanced atB. stared atC. looked throughD. looked after
10.A. HoweverB. OtherwiseC. StillD. Rather
11.A. commentsB. quarrelsC. warningsD. remark
12.A. in silenceB. in advanceC. in dangerD. in charge
13.A. researchedB. noticedC. searchedD. explored
14.A. firmlyB. suddenlyC. cruelly D. sweetly
15.A. bowlB. cupC. spoon D. pan
16.A. worshipB. workC. whisperD. weave
17.A. impressedB. touchedC. confusedD. struck
18.A. speechlessB. homelessC. fearlessD. hopeless
19.A. OnceB. WhetherC. ThoughD. Unless
20.A. gentlyB. happilyC. fluentlyD. fortunately
These days, people who do manual work often receive far more money than people who work in offices. People who work in offices are frequently referred to as “white-collar workers” for the simple reason that they wear a collar and tie to go to work. Such is human nature, that a great many people are often to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white-collar workers. This can give rise to curious situations, as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a（an） for the Ellesmere Corporation.
When he got married, Alf was too embarrassed to say anything to his wife about his job. He told her that he worked for the Corporation. Every morning, he left home in a smart black suit. He then changed into overalls and the next eight hours as a dustman. Before returning home at night, he took a shower and changed back into his suit. Alf did this for over two years and his fellow dustmen kept his . Alf's wife has never discovered that she married a dustman and she never will, for Alf has just found job. He will soon be working in an office. He will earn much less than he used to, but he feels that his rise in is well worth the loss of money. From now on, he will wear a suit all day and others will call him 'Mr. Bloggs' 'Alf'.
1.A. eventuallyB. occasionallyC. usuallyD. apparently
2.A. excitedB. willingC. interested D. lucky
3.A. officialB. managerC. salesmanD. dustman
4.A. hopefullyB. probablyC. simply D. politely
5.A. woreB. put C. triedD. dressed
6.A. tookB. spentC. costD. wasted
7.A. mistakeB. secretC. memoryD. reputation
8.A. anotherB. oneC. the otherD. other
9.A. statusB. look C. direction D. statue
10.A. in spite ofB. regardless ofC. instead ofD. in case of
Now that we’ve discussed our problem, are people happy with the decisions _________?
A. taking B. take C. to take D. taken
Everybody was touched _________ words after they heard her moving story.
A. without B. beyond C. of D. in
