Mr.Johnson lived in the woods with his wife and children.He owned a farm,which looked almost abandoned. 1.(lucky),he also had a cow2.(produce) milk every day.He sold or exchanged some of the milk in the towns nearby for other food and made cheese and butter for the family with what3.(leave).The cow was their only means of support,in fact.One day,the cow was eating grass4.it began to rain heavily.While making great5. (effort) to run away,she6.(fall) over the hill and died.Then Johnson tried to make7.living without the cow.In order to support his family,Mr.Johnson began to plant herbs（草药）and vegetables.Since the plants took a while to grow,he started cutting down trees8.(sell) the wood.Thinking about his children's clothes,he started growing cotton too.When harvest came around,he was already selling herbs,vegetables and cotton in the market9. people from the town met regularly.Now10.occurred to him that his farm had much potential and that the death of the cow was a bit of luck.
A young and successful executive was traveling down a street,going a bit too fast in his new car.He was____for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.
____his car passed,a brick____the car’s side door.He pressed hard the____and spun the car back to the____ from where the brick had been thrown.
He jumped out of the car,____a kid and pushed him up____a parked car,shouting,“What was that all about and who are you?Just what the heck are you doing?”____more and more angry,he went on “That’s a new car and that brick you threw is going to____a lot of money.Why did you do it?”“Please,mister,please,I’m sorry.I didn’t know what else to do!”____the youngster.“It’s my brother,”he said.“He fell out of his wheelchair and I can't____him up”. Sobbing,the boy asked the executive,“Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair?He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.”
____beyond words,the driver tried to____the rapidly swelling lump（块）in his throat.He____the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his____and wiped the scrapes（擦伤）and cuts,____to see that everything was going to be okay.
“Thank you,sir.And God bless you,”the____child said to him.The man then watched the little boy____his brother to the sidewalk toward their home.
It was along slow walk back to his car.He never did____the side door.He kept the dent（凹痕）to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your____.
1.A. looking B. watching C. caring D. waiting
2.A. Before B. After C. As D. While
3.A. hit B. blocked C. dropped D. scratched
4.A. hit B. brakes C. brick D. wheel
5.A. spot B. which C. that D. this
6.A. saw B. found C. stopped D. grabbed
7.A. on B. in C. against D. towards
8.A. Remaining B. Growing C. Building up D. Making up
9.A. cost B. spend C. use D. cause
10.A. begged B. required C. asked D. wondered
11.A. get B. pull C. lift D. put
12.A. Worried B. Depressed C. Moved D. Surprised
13.A. chew B. melt C. spit D. swallow
14.A. helped B. pulled C. held D. took
15.A. medicine B. handkerchief C. belt D. money
16.A. demanding B. expecting C. checking D. wanting
17.A. delighted B. sad C. helpless D. grateful
18.A. push B. bring C. hand D. raise
19.A. recovery B. repair C. reform D. record
20.A. information B. help C. attention D. notice
We are not born with courage,but neither are we born with fear.Fears,even the most basic ones,can totally destroy our ambitions.Fear can destroy fortunes.Fear can destroy relationships.Fear,if left unchecked,can destroy our lives.Fear is one of the many enemies living inside us.
1.
The first enemy we face is indecision.Indecision is the thief of opportunity.2.Take a sword to this enemy.
The second enemy inside is doubt.3.But you also can't let doubt take over.Many people doubt the past,doubt the future,doubt each other,doubt the government,doubt the possibilities and doubt the opportunities.Worst of all, they doubt themselves.I'm telling you,doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success.It will empty both your bank account and your heart.4.
Do battle with the enemies.Do battle with your fears.5.Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.
A.Sure,there's room for healthy doubt.You can't believe everything.
B.Build your courage to fight what's holding you back,what's keeping you from your goals and dreams.
C.Let me tell you about two of the other enemies we face from within.
D.Below are the ways which might be useful for us to overcome our fears.
E.Doubt is an enemy.Go after it.Get rid of it.
F.It will steal your chances for a better future.
G.Some people doubt everything.
Legend has it that the performing arts began when a Greek singer named Thespis invented tragedy.In 534 B.C., Thespis was performing a hymn（赞美诗）to the god Dionysius.Such hymns,called dithyrambs,were usually sung by a lead singer and a chorus.Thespis added a speaking actor.Performances at the annual Dionysian festival soon included plays with three actors as well as the standard hymns.By 449 B.C.,the Greeks were giving prizes to the best actor and the best playwright at the festival.A modern word for actor—thespian recognizes the debt today's drama owes to Thespis.
Performing in a Greek play required physical strength.Because each play had only three actors,performers had to play several roles.Chorus members both sang and danced.Being in the chorus for the many performances given at a festival was said to be as demanding as competing in the Olympic Games.
The Theater of Dionysius in Athens could hold 20,000 people.Even those in the front rows were quite a distance from the actors.Performers used grand gestures and wore masks so that they could be seen by everyone in their huge audience.Tragic（悲剧的）actors wore long clothes and masks.Comic actors wore short costumes that let them move freely and masks designed to make them look ugly or silly.Sometimes the chorus were dressed up to look like animals.
Another legacy（遗产）of the ancient Greeks is the deus ex machina,or "god from the machine".If a playwright was having trouble with the plot,he might have a god appear through a trap door（天窗）.The god would rescue the main character and find a solution to any difficult plot situations.Modem writers might not call on gods,but they do sometimes use unlikely ways to end a story.A character or an event that brings a complicated plot to an unlikely conclusion is still called deus ex machina.
1.We can learn from Paragraph 1 that .
A. the word "thespian" means "debt" in English
B. the Dionysian festival was held once a year
C. there were four actors in early Greek drama
D. the first tragedy was performed in 449B.C
2.From the passage we can know .
A. it was not easy to get a chance to perform in the chorus
B. the best actor and the best playwright would be given money
C. the playwright must play a role in the performance
D. the audience sat very close to actors to have a good view
3.According to the passage,one difference between early Greek comedies and tragedies is .
A. the actors' distance from the audience
B. the play's beginning
C. the number of performers
D. the actors' clothes
4.Deus ex machina is .
A. a kind of tragedy popular with ancient audience
B. a type of character that modern writers often write about
C. a way ancient Greek dramatists used to develop the plot
D. a style of performance first used by ancient Greek actors
Pushy parents and teachers who "hothouse" the under-5s risk causing damage to the children's long-term development,a leading education expert said.
Lilian Katz,Professor of Education at the University of Illinois,told that four-year-olds engaged in reading and writing went on to perform worse academically than those,engaged in imaginative learning.They scored higher in tests at the age of 5,but children whose first year at school was stimulating（使人兴奋的）outstripped them years later.
The findings suggest that the government's structured approach to early-years learning could be storing up problems for children.They also raise serious questions about the plan for all children to be able to read by the age of 6.
In many countries formal teaching does not start until children are 6 or 7 and have improved their social and manual skills.Children start learning to read and write at 6 in the United States,France and Germany,and at 7 Finland and Sweden.
Professor Katz said that in many schools the courses were “boring children to tears”.Much academic teaching required I children to learn by memorizing pieces of information out of context,she said.Teaching in reception class should instead allow children to develop their intellect by exploring their environments and asking questions.
"Research suggests the benefits of formal academic instruction for four and five-year-olds seem to be promising when they are tested early,but considerably less so in the long term.When these children arc followed over a period of three or more years,those who had early experience in more intellectually engaging curricula were more likely to do well in school than their peers,who had received early academic instruction."She advocates teaching children through first-hand experience and play,in mixed-aged classes.This can include puppet shows,drawing or running a pretend shop in the classroom.
1.According to the passage,those who "hothouse" the under-5s would probably______.
A. prefer a lot of interaction and stimulation while teaching
B. teach in a lively way to motivate kids' interest
C. push the kids to memorize pieces of information
D. care about the kids' physical development
2.What does the underlined word "outstripped" in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. did better than
B. looked down upon
C. caught up with
D. performed worse than
3.The message the author wants to deliver through the passage is that formal teaching______.
A. can start at different times in different countries
B. should not be started too early
C. is best carried out in Finland and Sweden
D. should include teaching children social and manual skills
4.Which of the following is NOT the opinion of Lilian Katz?
A. Children should be taught through first-hand experience.
B. Learning in a mixed-age class is good for children.
C. Running a shop can help children get good marks.
D. Puppet shows and drawing are useful ways in teaching children.
Not so long ago,most people didn't know who Shelly Ann Francis Pryce was going to become.She was just an average high school athlete.There was every indication that she was just another American teenager without much of a future.However,one person wants to change this.Stephen Francis observed then eighteen-year-old Shelly Ann as a track meet and was convinced that he had seen the beginning of true greatness.Her time were not exactly impressive, but even so,he seemed there was something trying to get out,something the other coaches had overlooked when they had assessed her and found her lacking.He decided to offer Shelly Ann a place in his very strict training seasons. Their cooperation quickly produced results,and a few year later at Jamaica's Olympic games in early 2008,Shelly Ann,who at that time only ranked number 70 in the world,beat Jamaica's unchallenged queen of the sprint（短跑）.
"Where did she come from?"asked an astonished sprinting world,before concluding that she must be one of those one-hit wonders that spring up from time to time,only to disappear again without signs.But Shelly Ann was to prove that she was anything but a one-hit wonder.At the Beijing Olympic she swept away any doubts about her ability to perform consistently by becoming the first Jamaican woman ever to win the 100 meters Olympic gold.She did it again one year on at the World Championship in Briton,becoming world champion with a time of' 10.73—the fourth record ever.
Shelly-Ann is a little woman with a big smile.She has a mental toughness that did not come about by chance. Her journey to becoming the fastest woman on earth has been anything but smooth and effortless,She grew up in one of Jamaica's toughest inner-city communities known as Waterhouse,where she lived in a one-room apartment, sleeping four in a bed with her mother and two brothers.Waterhouse,one of the poorest communities in Jamaica,is a really violent and overpopulated place.Several of Shelly-Ann's friends and family were caught up in the killings;one of her cousins was shot dead only a few streets away from where she lived.Sometimes her family didn't have enough to eat.She ran at the school championships barefooted because she couldn't afford shoes.Her mother Maxime,one of a family of fourteen,had been an athlete herself as a young girl but,like so many other girls in Waterhouse,had to stop after she had her first baby.Maxime's early entry into the adult world with its responsibilities gave her the determination to ensure that her kids would not end up in Waterhouse's roundabout of poverty.One of the first things Maxime used to do with Shelly-Ann was taking her to the track,and she was ready to sacrifice everything.
It didn't take long for Shelly-Ann to realize that sports could be her way out of Waterhouse.On a summer evening in Beijing in 2008,all those long,hard hours of work and commitment finally bore fruit.The barefoot kid who just a few years previously had been living in poverty,surrounded by criminals and violence,had written a new chapter in the history of sports.
But Shelly-Ann's victory was far greater than that.The night,she won Olympic gold in Beijing,the routine murders in Waterhouse and the drug wars in the neighbouring streets stopped.The dark cloud above one of the world's toughest criminal neighbourhoods simply disappeared for a few days.“I have so much fire burning for my country,”Shelly said.She plans to start a foundation for homeless children and wants to build a community centre in Waterhouse.She hopes to inspire the Jamaicans to lay down their weapons.She intends to fight to make it a woman's as well as a man's world.
As Muhammad Ali puts it,"Champions aren't made in gyms.Champions are made from something they have deep inside them.A desire,a dream,a vision."One of the things Shelly-Ann can be proud of is her understanding of this truth.
1.Why did Stephen Francis decide to coach Shelly-Ann?
A. He had a strong desire to free her family from trouble.
B. He sensed a great potential in her despite her weaknesses.
C. She had big problems maintaining her performance.
D. She suffered a lot of defeats at the previous track meets.
2.What can we infer from Shelly-Ann's statement underlined in Paragraph 5?
A. She was highly rewarded for her efforts.
B. She was eager to do more for her country.
C. She became an athletic star in her country.
D. She was the envy of the whole community.
3.By mentioning Muhammad Ali's words,the author intends to tell us that_____.
A. players should be highly inspired by coaches
B. great athletes need to concentrate on patience
C. hard work is necessary in one's achievements
D. motivation allows great athletes to be on the top
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. The Making of a Great Athlete
B. The Dream for Championship
C. The Key to High Performance
D. The Power of Full Responsibility
