Steve Morris was not a typical child．But when he was nine，his to be typical was very strong．Of all the people Steve remembered，one woman，his primary-school teacher，Mrs Beneduci， in his mind．Mrs Beneduci was a wise person．She realized that mere words to a kid not carry much weight．So instead，with the secret aid of a little mouse，she found a to show Steve his real talent．
One day Mrs Beneduci began her with the question: who was Abraham Lincoln? Amy was required to answer it．She said in a voice，“Uh ．．．he，uh，had a beard．” The students burst into ．“Steve?” said the teacher．Steve stood up and confidently，“He was the 16th President of the United States．”
with Steve’s performance，the teacher then added that Abraham Lincoln had been President during the Civil War … Then she stopped， she was listening to something．It sounded like a mouse．The little girls screamed．Some stood on their chairs．Mrs Beneduci tried to the students down，and asked Steve to find the poor little creature．
Steve sat straight up in his chair and asked everybody to be ．In the sudden stillness he raised his head，hesitated for a moment，and to the wastebasket．“He’s right over there!” said Steve ．“I can hear him!”
And so he was: a frightened little mouse that was beneath the wastepaper，hoping to go ．Nature gave him a remarkable pair of to make up for his blindness．In the heart of small，sightless Steve a pride was born，and that pride is with him still． the incident，Mrs Beneduci would continue to his talent，and she always reminded Steve of the little mouse．
A little mouse gave a small boy ．Steve Morris is now a singer who is popular all over the world．
1.A．limit B．desire C．direction D．courage
2.A．stands out B．turns up C．gets through D．gives away
3.A．will B．shall C．might D．must
4.A．control B．chance C．power D．choice
5.A．rest B．holiday C．study D．class
6.A．low B．proud C．long D．wide
7.A．tears B．laughter C．cheers D．applause
8.A．decided B．predicted C．answered D．required
9.A．Satisfied B．Confused C．Thrilled D．Surprised
10.A．even when B．so that C．just because D．as though
11.A．calm B．lie C．keep D．settle
12.A．relaxed B．anxious C．quiet D．active
13.A．pointed B．walked C．fell D．rushed
14.A．slowly B．proudly C．carefully D．luckily
15.A．running B．escaping C．fighting D．struggling
16.A．undiscovered B．unexplained C．untreated D．unhurt
17.A．arms B．hands C．legs D．ears
18.A．Before B．In C．After D．For
19.A．test B．encourage C．inspect D．feel
20.A．excitement B．patience C．warmth D．confidence
Being a good student doesn’t mean you have to drop all social activities and dive into your books．It is still possible to have a healthy social life while getting good grades．1. Here are how you can achieve it:
Decide for yourself at the start of the term that you won’t let your schoolwork sweep you away． 2.
Write down your weekly schedule on a piece of paper．Chances are that you’ll have small gaps between classes during the week and more free time at the weekend．Make sure that every time you find yourself in one of those between-class gaps you use the time efficiently．3.
Set aside at least one large amount of time each week as free time．Keep in mind the law of diminishing returns(收益递减）．Past a certain point，more hours studying will be of little benefit． 4. Protect both your free time and your school time carefully．If one starts to infringe(侵犯）on the other，that is just the beginning of a long，slippery downhill slope(斜坡）．
5. This way，you can co-ordinate(协调）your free time with theirs．
Whenever possible，find social activities that take you off campus and away from your schoolwork．
A．Balance is the key．
B．Encourage your friends to follow a similar plan．
C．It is very important to be determined about this．
D．Try not to affect others’ time and just focus on your own．
E．You’re better off spending this time with friends．
F．You can spend more time on social life than on study．
G．Read a few pages of your school books or do some quick chores(杂活)，for example．
People in several American states may be surprised to see cars on city streets without a driver．Experimental driverless vehicles now are legal in Florida，Nevada and California．They are pointing the way to a future that is not far down the road．The high-tech company Google has a number of self-driving cars，which had covered 480,000 kilometers by August．Volvo is among the companies doing road tests and says it plans to sell driverless cars by 2020．
In September，California Governor Jerry Brown signed an act to allow autonomous vehicles on the roads of his state．"Today we're looking at science fiction becoming tomorrow's reality—the driverless car．"The technology for these cars includes cameras，radar and motion sensors．The systems have been improved through competitions sponsored by the U．S．government agency DARPA．Engineer Richard Mason of the Rand Corporation helped design driverless vehicles for DARPA challenge races．
Cars have become much more fuel-efficient，and new electronic features are making Hondas safer，said Angie Nucci of Honda America．"A camera on the passenger-side mirror actually engaged on your guiding screen so you can safely change lanes．" Other safety features include warning systems on the front and the sides of the cars．These systems help drivers，but don't replace them．Curator Leslie Kendall of the Petersen Automotive Museum said autonomous cars will make the high ways safer．
"By taking out drivers，you also remove most risks of an accident," Kendall said．He said consumers，however，may be unwilling to lose control．"It may take them time to come to realize that the technology is indeed reliable，but it will have to prove itself first．"
Mason said the technology already works and the biggest challenge now is getting down the cost for driverless vehicles from hundreds of thousands of dollars to something more affordable．He said this will happen as the technology is improved．
1.What can we learn from Paragraph l?
A．Driverless vehicles are now legal in the whole USA．
B．Volvo will be the first to sell driverless cars．
C．Driverless cars are pointing us a faraway future．
D．Google's self-driving cars have covered a long distance．
2.We learn that Governor of California Jerry Brown_________．
A．helped design self-driving cars
B．supports self-driving cars on roads
C．considers self-driving cars science fiction
D．improved the self-driving car systems
3.What is the role of the systems mentioned in Paragraph 3?
A．They can help people drive more safely．
B．They can take the place of drivers now．
C．They can make cars run without fuel．
D．They can help cars run much faster．
4.According to Richard Mason，what is the biggest challenge for driverless cars?
A．They are not allowed to run on the road．
B．Their technical problems remain to be solved．
C．They are now too expensive for consumers．
D．They are more dangerous for people on the street．
Students from Florida International University in Miami walked on water Thursday for a class assignment．To do it，they wore aquatic (水上的）shoes they designed and created．
Alex Quinones was the first to make it to the other side of a 175-foot lake on campus in record time—just over a minute．Quinones，who wore oversized boat-like shoes，also won last year and will receive $ 500．Students had to wear the aquatic shoes and make it across the lake in order to earn an “A” on the assignment for Architecture Professor Jaime Canaves，Materials and Methods Construction Class．"It's traditional in a school of architecture to do boats out of cardboard for a boat race．I thought our students were a little bit more special than that，" Canaves said．" We decided to do the walk on water event to take it to the next level．"
A total of 79 students competed in the race this year in 41 teams．Only 10 teams failed to cross the lake．Others who fell got back up and made it to the end．The race is open to all students and anyone in the community．The youngest person to ever participate was a 9-year-old girl who competed in place of her mother，while the oldest was a 67-year-old female．
A large crowd on campus joined Canaves as he cheered on the racers．He shouted encouraging words，but also laughed as some unsteadily made their way to the end．
"A part of this is for them to have more understanding of designing and make it work better，" he said．It is also a lesson in life for the students．
“Anything，including walking on water，is possible，if you do the research，test it and go through the design process seriously．”
1.For what purpose did the students take part in the race?
A．To go across the lake to school．
B．To test their balance on the water．
C．To pass Professor Canaves’ class．
D．To win the prize money of $ 500．
2.Which of the following is true about the race?
A．The students who fell into the water had to quit．
B．More than 20 teams failed to cross the lake．
C．The students kept silent when the other racers competed．
D．The youngest competitor competed instead of her mother．
3.According to Canaves，this race can help the students_________．
A．understand designing better
B．achieve almost everything
C．work together and unite as one
D．walk on the surface of water
4.What is the purpose of this passage?
A．To advertise a student' s program．
B．To report an interesting assignment．
C．To introduce a creative professor．
D．To encourage special events on campus．
My daughter and I collected the empty cans and bottles in our home this morning．We had 6 full garbage bags later so I knew we would be spending a bit more of time at the recycling center．When we got there，a man and his kids were also doing the morning recycling and were using two of the four machines to recycle their plastic and cans．Luckily，we were able to use the 2 remaining machines．
Of course，there were others that came，but when they saw the two families with garbage bags full of recycled things，they quickly left．However，one woman came in with just 5 cans and looked as if she was in a hurry．So I stopped what I was doing and let her in to recycle her cans．Of course，she was grateful，and it felt good to let her go ahead of me．But that was not the whole story．
My daughter and I continued to work through the bags，but the plastic recycling machine stopped working because it was full．My daughter was left with nothing to do．The other family was still using the other two plastic recycling machines，but it seemed that they were almost done．I just told my daughter we would have to wait until they were done．But the man of the other family came through with another act of kindness．He offered to let us go ahead of him．I was really surprised，because we had more than 5 bottles，but he didn’t seem to mind．I happily accepted it．
It was great to give and then to get an act of kindness in turn．It was small，I didn't expect it，but it surely brightened up my day．
1.Why did the writer let the woman recycle her cans first?
A．Because there were many other families there．
B．Because the woman seemed to be in a hurry．
C．Because the writer wanted to hear a story．
D．Because the woman was very grateful．
2.Why couldn't the writer finish her recycling in time?
A．Because her daughter' s machine stopped working．
B．Because the other family was still using the machines．
C．Because she let the other family use her machine first．
D．Because she helped recycle the other family's bags first．
3.What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A．The kindness． B．The offer．
C．The machine． D．The 5 bottles．
4.Which of the following best describes the topic of this passage?
A．A good name is sooner lost than won．
B．A little is better than none．
C．All men cannot be first．
D．One good turn deserves another．
Down-to-earth means being honest，open，and easy to deal with．It is a pleasure to find someone who is down-to-earth．A person who is down-to-earth is easy to talk to．He or she accepts others as equals．A down-to-earth person may be an important member of society，of course，but they do not let their importance go to their heads，and they do not consider themselves to be better than others who are less important．Someone who is filled with self-importance and pride，often without cause，is said to have his nose in the air．There is no way a person with his nose in the air can be down-to-earth．
Americans use another expression that is similar in some way to down-to-earth．The expression is both feet on the ground．Someone with both feet on the ground is a person with a good understanding of reality．He has what is called common sense．He may have dreams but he does not allow them to block his knowledge of what is real．The opposite kind of person is one who has his head in the clouds．A man with his head in the clouds is a dreamer whose mind is not in the world．Sometimes such a dreamer can be brought back to reality；sharp words from the teacher，for example，can usually get a daydreaming student to put both feet back on the ground．
The person who is down-to-earth usually has both feet on the ground．But the opposite is not always true．Someone with both feet on the ground may not be as open and easy to deal with as someone who is down-to-earth．When we have both our feet firmly on the ground，we are realistic and we act honestly and openly toward others，and our lives are like the ground below us，solid and strong．
1.If a person has his nose in the air，he ．
A．is down to the earth
B．is easy to deal with
C．always thinks he is more important than others
D．is confident
2.If a person has both feet on the ground，he ．
A．is in touch with reality，and doesn’t have any dreams
B．has some dreams but he is realistic
C．is honest，open and easy to deal with
D．is honest，open but hard to deal with
3.The underlined sentence “But the opposite is not always true．” most probably means that ______．
A．the person who has his nose in the air is not true
B．a man with his head in the clouds is often not intelligent
C．the opposite direction is always wrong
D．a person who has both feet on the ground may not be down-to-earth
