阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Dear Dad,
On this date of your 50th birthday, Mom gave me the letter you wrote me when I was born 18 years ago. In your letter, you 1.(wish) me to be strong-minded and successful. You were looking forward to 2.(see) me fight for my future bravely and do well for 3. and others.
After reading this letter, I feel quite 4.(shock) at your5.(expect) on me. I also feel shamed 6.not having performed well to meet your demand. I still remember when I was in primary school, I failed to apply myself to studying. I was addicted to computer games. As a consequence, I soon became the last one in my class. You didn’t abuse me at all. 7.the contrary, you taught me that studying was the most important object at the moment and encouraged me to study hard. Only 8.I read your letter did I realize that I behaved so badly at that time and you were so sad to see I didn’t do well for myself.
I can’t help expressing my gratitude and sending my best wishes to you. Wish you9.(health) and happy. I promise that I will spare no effort to satisfy your demand of being10.brave and successful person.
单词拼写
1.________（好奇）kills cats.
2.There are 40________(申请者) for the job.
3.He left home,________(决定) never to come back again.
4.They are ________(强迫) to leave their houses
5.Who would you rather have d________(设计) the magazine?
6.He is an e___________(有活力的) boy.
7.Our class c__________(由……组成) of 60 students is a big class.
8.The crowd________(惊慌) at the sound of the gunfire just now.
9.He was o_________(显然) annoyed for being late.
10.I found him _______(隐藏) in the room.
On the very first day, God created the cow. He______ to the cow, “Today I have created you!______ a cow, you must go to the field with the______all day long. You will work all _____ under the sun! I will give you a life_____ of 50 years.”
The cow objected, “What? This kind of a _____life you want me to live for 50 years? Let me have 20 years, and the 30 years I’ll give back to you.” So God agreed.
On the second day, God created the dog. God said to the dog, “What you are____ to do is to sit all day by the door of your house. Any people that come in, you will have to______ at them! I’ll give you a life span of 20 years.”
The dog objected, “What? All day long to______by the door? No way! I’ll give you _____ my other 10 years of life!” So God agreed.
On the third day, God created the monkey. He said to the monkey, “Monkeys have to______people. You’ve got to make them laugh and do monkey _____ I’ll give you 20 years life span.”
The monkey objected. “What? Make them laugh? Do monkey faces and tricks? Ten years will______, and the other 10 years I’ll give you back.” So God agreed.
On the fourth day, God created______ and said to him, “Your job is to sleep, eat, and play. You will enjoy very much in your life. All you need to do is to enjoy and do nothing. This kind of life, I’ll give you a 20 year life span.”
The man objected. “What? ______ a good life! Eat, play, sleep, do nothing? Enjoy the best and you______me to live only for 20 years? No way, man! Why don’t we make a(n) _____? Since the cow gave you back 30 years, and the dog gave you back 10 years and the monkey gave you back 10 years, I will _____them from you! That makes my life span 70 years, right?” So God agreed.
AND THAT’S WHY...
In our first 20 years, we eat, sleep, play, enjoy the best and do nothing much. For the next 30 years, we______all day long, suffer and get to ____ the family. For the next 10 years, we entertain our grandchildren by making monkey faces and monkey tricks. And for the last 10 years, we stay at home, sit by the front door and bark at people!
1.A. spoke B. said C. told D. talked
2.A. Be B. With C. Like D. As
3.A. doctor B. worker C. farmer D. teacher
4.A. year B. time C. day D. night
5.A. span B. length C. width D. distance
6.A. rough B. tough C. hardly D. easy
7.A. accustomed B. devoted C. supposed D. admitted
8.A. bark B. knock C. laugh D. look
9.A. stand B. seat C. lie D. sit
10.A. back B. away C. off D. up
11.A. enrich B. establish C. entertain D. encourage
12.A. job B. tricks C. work D. move
13.A. make B. enough C. do D. rich
14.A. woman B. child C. man D. baby
15.A. So B. Such C. Much D. Many
16.A. expect B. face C. think D. hope
17.A. bargain B. mistake C. act D. deal
18.A. take B. bring C. hold D. set
19.A. rest B. stay C. work D. enjoy
20.A. hold B. provide C. protect D. support
No one likes to fail. Whether it’s at work, at home, or in another area of your life, failure is painful and it can also be costly in terms of time, money, or both.1. If you never suffer a failure, then you’re probably not pushing yourself to your full potential. The following are some tips on how to pick yourself up after you’ve failed.
Remember that other people fail too. 2. They’ll tell you about that great new contract(合同) they signed, not the deal that failed eventually though they worked on it for months. But failure is normal, and lots of people fail time and time again before meeting with success.
Remind yourself of your past successes. Failing doesn’t mean that you’re worthless, or that you’ll never achieve the things you want.3. Maybe you had high marks last term, or you lost weight, or you learned to play a musical instrument. You might want to write down a list of successes---things that you’ve accomplished over the past few years, whether big or small. If you ever lack confidence, you can go back and read over that list.
4. Your past successes are important, but so are your past failures. You’ve made mistakes before, and you’ve survived them. Perhaps you did badly in an exam, or lost your temper and had to apologize. It’s not fun to think about the times when things went wrong, but by acknowledging your failures, you can remind yourself that today is no different. Just as you recovered in the past, you can recover from your recent failure too.
5. Whatever goes wrong, you’re probably facing some sort of decision. Don’t rush into making a hasty decision, but do look for a forward path. That might require some deep thinking.
A. Make a decision.
B. Limit the damage caused.
C. Remind yourself of your past failures.
D. However, failure is a normal part of life.
E. Get some advice and support from others.
F. Most people don’t talk openly about their failures.
G. Think of all the times in the past when you’ve succeeded.
This happened when I was ten.
My girl cousin had decided to be a boy for Halloween, so my aunt called my mom to borrow some of my clothes. The next morning, they came to our house early before school. My cousin told me that she was going to be a boy for Halloween and wear some of my clothes. I told her that I didn’t care. Then, with a big grin(咧嘴笑) on her face, she told me that I was going to be a girl. I told her she was crazy but she said that she had overheard my mom’s plan and that her mom had brought some of her clothes for me.
So I went to the living room to see our moms. Then I knew she wasn’t lying. There was a wig(假发）on the table and my mom and aunt were both smiling at me. I shook my head and told them “ NO WAY!” before they even said a word. My aunt said that it would be really cute. Then Mom told me not to be a stick-in-the-mud. She said that it would be fun and she wanted to see what I’d look like as a little girl. I told them I absolutely would not do it!
I was still refusing twenty minutes later… when my aunt was putting make-up on me. I was wearing a pink party dress, the blond wig with pigtails(辫子) and earrings. My cousin wore one of my sweatshirts, my jeans and a baseball cap. We were sent to school like that, where I spent a sad day. The kids thought it funny that we were dressed that way and made stupid comments about us. They also played jokes on us and I’ve never been so uncomfortable.
I still don’t like Halloween to this day!
1.The author’s______ decided him to be a girl for Halloween.
A. girl cousin B. mother
C. aunt D. teacher
2.The author thought the idea of being dressed like a girl______.
A. amazing B. cure
C. traditional D. disappointing
3.By saying “a stick-in-the-mud”, the mother______.
A. thought the author was stubborn B. showed her preference for girls
C. decided to give in D. expressed her anger
4.When the students saw the way the author was dressed, they______.
A. liked it very much B. showed admiration
C. made fun of him D. felt uncomfortable
Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.
We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.
I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.
I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.
I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity(囚禁) my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.
The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.
Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”
Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.
1.Why did the writer catch a mockingbird when he was a boy of 12?
A. He had just got a new cage. B. He liked its beautiful feather.
C. He wanted it to sing for him. D. He wanted a pet for a companion.
2.The mockingbird died because it ______.
A. was frightened to death B. ate the poisonous food its mother gave it
C. refused to eat anything D. drank the poisonous water by mistake
3.An ornithologist probably means ______.
A. a religious person B. a kind person
C. a schoolmaster D. an expert in birds
4.What is the most important lesson the writer learned from the incident?
A. Freedom is very valuable to all creatures.
B. All birds put in a cage won’t live long.
C. You should keep the birds from their mother.
D. Be careful about food you give to baby birds.
