When you are little, the whole word feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers. Georgia the
summer is all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade.
Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.
     It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie's basement. As I opened
the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls and old cloths.
I ran downstairs, and spotted a red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more
paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.
     "Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint." She
screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we go to work. We gathered
all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my
house. We painted big stripes(條紋) of colors across the pavement(人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors
turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!
     The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn't wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from
the look on my mother's face. I could tell that I was in deep trouble.
      My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted "What in the
world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors'
trees, but this! Come inside right now! "I stood there glaring back at her for a minute, angry because she
had insulted(侮辱) my art.
     "Now go clean it up!" Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my
beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.
     Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow had gone. I wonder if, maybe when
I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need some sort of
rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful.

1. What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?
A. To introduce Stephanie to her
B. To prevent her from seeing his painting
C. To put the materials back in the yard
D. To show his artwork to her

2. In his mother's eyes, the write________.
A. was a born artist        
B. always caused trouble
C. was a problem solver    
D. worked very hard

3. The unlined word "rainbow" in the last paragraph refers to_________.
A. the rainbow in the sky
B. the stripes on the pavement
C. something imaginative and fun
D. important lessons learned in childhood.

4. It can be learned from the passage that parents should________.
A. encourage children to paint
B. value friendship among children
C. discover the hidden talent in children
D. protect rather than destroy children's dreams

     We lived in a very quiet neighborhood. One evening I heard a loud crash in the street. Earlier that
evening my wife had asked me to go to the store to get some soft drinks. It seemed like this would be a
good time to let my teenage daughter Holly practice her driving, so I sent her to the store in my truck. At
dinner my son talked about how much he liked my truck. I enjoyed having it, but I said: "Guy, my heart is
not set on that truck. I like it but it is just metal and won't last forever. Never set your heart on anything that
won't last. "After hearing the loud noise, the whole family ran outside. My son shouted: "Dad! Dad, Holly
crashed your truck. "
     My heart sank and my mind was flooded with conflicting thoughts. Was anyone hurt? Who else was
involved? As I ran to the door, I heard a voice in my heart say: "Here is a chance to show Holly what you
really love. She'll never forget it. "
     The accident had occurred in my own driveway. Holly had crashed my truck into our other vehicle, the
family van. In her inexperience, she had confused the brakes and the gas pedal (油門]). Holly was unhurt
physically but when I reached her, she was crying and saying: "Oh, Dad, I'm sorry. I know how much you
love this truck. "I held her in my arms as she cried.
     Later that week a friend stopped by and asked what had happened to my truck. I told her the whole
story. Her eyes moistened (潤(rùn)濕) and she said: "That happened to me when I was a girl. I borrowed my
dad's car and ran into a log that had fallen across the road. I ruined the car. When I got home my Dad
knocked me to the ground and began to kick me. "
     Over 40 years later, she still felt the pain of the night. It was a deep wound on her soul.
     I remember how sad Holly was on the night she crashed our truck, and how I comforted her. One day,
when Holly thinks back on her life, I want her to know that I love her a thou- sand times more than any
piece of property.
     I repaired the van, but the dent (凹陷) in my truck is still there today. Every day it re- minds me of
what really matters in my life.

1. What caused the crash?

A. The brakes weren't working.
B. Holly stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brakes.
C. Holly was drinking a soft drink while driving.
D. The car got a flat tire and Holly lost control.

2. What happened to the author's friend after she ruined her dad's car?

A. She suffered physical pain for a long time.
B. She lost the courage to drive.
C. Her father kicked her out of the house.
D. Her father was violent toward her

3. Which of the following descriptions is true according to the passage?

A. When the author first learned about the crash, he regretted sending her daughter to the store.
B. The author allowed his daughter to use his truck because his son was too young to drive.
C. When the author saw the crash, he was sorry for the damage to his beloved car.
D. By comforting his daughter, the author showed how much more he loved her than his truck.

4. The main idea of the story is that        .

A. love is more important than possessions
B. parents should never let a teenager drive
C. there is no point blaming someone after an accident
D. we should always forgive others~ mistake

     About six years ago, I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young
boy sat down at the next table. I couldn't help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the
woman asked, " So, how have you been?" And the boy---who could not have been more than seven or
eight years old replied, "Frankly, I've been feeling a little depressed lately."
     This incident (小事) stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are
changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I hardly found out we were " depressed" until we were in high school.
     The evidence of  changes in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don't seem
childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults
than they used to.
     Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no
longer exists. Why?
     Human development is based not only on natural biological states, but also on patterns of access to
social knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the
new situation. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in gradual stages:
traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
     In the past 30 years, however, a secret-revelation (提示) machine has been installed in 98 percent of
American homes. It is called television. Television passes information, and indiscriminately (不加區(qū)分地), to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation (誘惑), many
children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures.
     Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social
information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that
must be memorized and practiced. Children must read simple books before they can read complex
materials.

Title: (1)_____ in Today's Children
Main comparisonsContexts
Different(2)_____ Children in the past just did what they were(3)_____ to.
Children today act as if they were (4)_____.
Different(5)_____ Children in the past(6)_____ experienced depression in the author's view.
Sometimes sadness (7)_____ to children nowadays.
Different
(8)_____ to get knowledgeChildren in the past got knowledge  in (9)_____ and guided stages.
Children nowadays get some knowledge by (10)_____ TV without control.

     It seems that some people go out of their way to get into trouble. That's more or less what happened
the night that Nashville Police Officer Floyd Hyde was on duty.
     "I was on the way to a personal-injury accident in West Nashville. As I got onto Highway 40, blue
lights and siren(警笛) going, I fell in behind a gold Pontiac Firebird that suddenly seemed to take off
quickly down the highway. The driver somehow panicked at the sight of me. He was going more than a hundred miles an hour and began passing cars on the shoulder."
     But Hyde couldn't go after him. Taking care of injured people is always more important than worrying
about speeders, so the officer had to stay on his way to the accident. But he did try to keep the Firebird in sight as he drove, hoping another nearby unit would be able to step in and stop the speeding car. As it
turned out, keeping the Firebird in sight was not that difficult. Every turn the Pontiac made was the very
turn the officer needed to get to the accident scene.
     Hyde followed the Pontiac all the way to his destination(目的地). At that point he found another unit
had already arrived at the accident scene. His help wasn't needed. Now he was free to try to stop the
driver of the firebird, who by this time had developed something new to panick about.
    "Just about that time," Hyde says, " I saw fire coming out from under that car, with blue smoke and oil
going everywhere. He's blown his engine. Now he had to stop."
     After I arrested him, I asked him why he was running. He told me he didn't have a driver's license.
     That accident cost the driver of the Firebird plenty-a thousand dollars for the new engine-not to
mention the charges for driving without a license, attempting to run away, and dangerous driving.

1. The meaning of “panicked” in paragraph 2 is related to _______.  

A. happy  
B. fear  
C. anger    
D. hate 

2. Why did the driver of the Firebird suddenly speed down the highway?  

A. Because he was racing with another driver on the road.  
B. Because he realized he had to hurry to the accident scene.  
C. Because he thought the police officer wanted to stop him.  
D. Because he wanted to overtake other cars on the shoulder.

3. Which of the following statements is true?  

A. Someone else was taking care of the injured person.  
B. The Pontiac reached its destination at the accident scene.  
C. Hyde knew where he was going by following the right car.  
D. The policeman was running after a speeder on Highway 40.

4. The driver of the Firebird _________.  

A. took a wrong turn on the way    
B. had some trouble with his car  
C. was stopped by the police officer  
D. paid for the expenses of the accident

5. What is probably the best title for the article?  

A. Losing His Way?    
B. Going My Way?  
C. Fun All the Way?    
D. Help on the Way?

     Amie Carton was only 18 months old when she had the accident that scarred (留下創(chuàng)傷) her for life.
The curious child reached up to get the wire of a hot kettle in the kitchen and poured boiling water over
her body.
     Her mother Ruby called an ambulance which rushed her to a nearby hospital. Twenty percent of Amie' s body had been burned and all of her bums were third-degree. There, using tissue taken from unburned
areas of Amie' s body, doctors performed complex skin grafts (移植) to close her wounds and control
her injuries, an operation that took about six hours. Over the next 16 years, Amie had 12 more operations to repair her body.
     When she started school at age 4 , other pupils made cruel comments or simply wouldn't play with
her." I was the only burned child in the street," she recalled, " some children refused to become friends
because of that."
     Today, age 17, Amie can only ever remember being a burned person with scars; pain is a permanent
part of her body. She still has to have two further skin grafts. Yet she is a confident, outgoing teenager
who offers inspiration and hope to other young bums victims. She is a member of the Scottish Burned
Children's Club, a charity set up last year. This month, Amie will be joining the younger children at the
Graff ham Water Center for the charity' s first summer camp. "I'll show them how to treat others' unkind
stares as unimportant and not worry about them," she says. Amie loves wearing fashionable sleeveless
tops, and she plans to show the younger children at the summer camp that they can too." I do not go to
great lengths to hide my burns scars," she says, "I gave up wondering how other people would react
years ago."

1.When Amie first went to school, other children ______.

A. took interest in her injuries          
B. hoped to be her friends
C. were cruel to her                
D. were afraid of her

2.Why does Amie join younger children at the Graffham Water Center?

A. To face others' unkindness bravely.    
B. To live a normal life.
C. To show her fashionable sleeveless tops.
D. To recover from injuries.

3. What does the writer think of Amie?

A. Generous.  
B. Powerful.      
C. Optimistic.
D. Fashionable.