I used to watch her from my kitchen window. She seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. The school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they played during break. I remember the first day I saw her playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids. She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her but no one could. I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone.

One day I asked her why she practiced so much. Without a moment of hesitation she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is to get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Well, I had to give it to her—she was determined. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her school team to victory.

One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head in her arms. I walked across the street and sat down in the cool grass beside her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. “Oh, nothing,” came a soft reply, “I am just too short.” The coach told her that at 5’5” she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team—much less offered a scholarship—so she should stop dreaming about college. She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They just did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she truly wanted a scholarship and that nothing could stop her except one thing — her own attitude.

The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was offered a scholarship and on the college team. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of.

The author was probably the girl’s        .

A．neighbor       B．friend              C．mother       D．teacher

Why was the girl heartbroken?

A．She was considered too short to be a top player.

B．Her coach stopped her training because of her height.

C．She couldn’t be on a college basketball team.   

D．She wouldn’t be admitted by an ideal college.

We can learn from the passage that        .

A．her family wouldn’t like to pay her college fee  

B．her father forced her to play basketball in collage

C．being a top basketball player can win you a scholarship for college

D．she wouldn’t like to turn to his father for help when in difficulty

Which word can best describe her father?

A．Encouraging.      B．Optimistic.        C．Stubborn.       D．Cruel.

Which proverb best matches the story?

A．Practice makes perfect.                     B．Rome was not built in a day.

C．Where there is a will, there is a way.           D．Pride comes before a fall.

I believe that my country, Poland, is a perfect example for a place where food is particularly important. When we were little children, we began to understand how much a loaf of bread meant to our parents—to some it might sound silly but for me the custom of kissing bread before you started cutting it was simply amazing. It's not so common nowadays to treat food that way, since you hardly ever bake your own bread. Besides, everyone would call you crazy if you tried to kiss every bread roll before you ate them! But though we no longer make our food from scratch (起點), some customs have been kept--that's why I feel so sorry every time I have to throw any food away—even though I no longer live with my parents and nobody would blame me for this anymore!

Many people of our nation are still working as farmers, eating what they grow and harvest and therefore enjoying everything more. It's widely known that you value more anything that needs your effort in the first place. In most homes in Poland, especially those of farmers, the whole family would try and have their meals together--extremely difficult now, but so rewarding (值得) ! You can share other members' troubles and successes, give your children some attention, or just sit down for a moment instead of rushing through life aimlessly. Furthermore, your body, and stomach in particular will be very grateful (感激) for such a time!

In Poland, a wedding, Christmas or even a birthday is celebrated with a great meal. Women in the house get together and cook, sometimes for a few days before the event, and the extremely good or unusual food will be remembered and widely talked about.

You cannot over-value the importance of food in the country. What's more, almost everyone in Poland will be as interested in the topic as I am.

When the writer was a child, he / she ________.

    A. found people were crazy about bread          B. began to realize the importance of food

C. thought that cutting bread was amazing       D. learned people hardly baked their own bread

The writer feels very sorry when he/she has to throw away any food because

    A. he/she makes food from scratch                B. his/her parents would blame him/her

    C. some customs still have effect on him/her     D. many people are still working hard as farmers

From the text, we can learn that, in Poland, ________.

    A. most meals can be interesting topics for a long time

    B. the whole family often have meals together nowadays

    C. it's common for women to get together to cook for a few days

D. family members can know more. about each other by having meals together

I believe that my country,Poland,is a perfect example for a place where food is particularly important.When we were little children,we began to understand how much a loaf of bread meant to our parents—to some it might sound silly but for me the custom of kissing bread before you started cutting it was simply amazing.It’s not so common nowadays to treat food that way,since you hardly ever bake your own bread.Besides,everyone would call you crazy if you tried to kiss every bread roll before you ate them!But though we no longer make our food from scratch(起點),some customs have been kept—that’s why I feel so sorry every time I have to throw any food away—even though I no longer live with my parents and nobody would blame me for this anymore!

Many people of our nation are still working as farmers,eating what they grow and harvest and therefore enjoying everything more.It’s widely known that you value more anything that needs your effort in the first place.In most homes in Poland,especially those of farmers,the whole family would try and have their meals together—extremely difficult now,but so rewarding(值得)!You can share other members’ troubles and successes,give your children some attention,or just sit down for a moment instead of rushing through life aimlessly.Furthermore,your body,and stomach in particular will be very grateful(感激) for such a time!

In Poland,a wedding,Christmas or even a birthday is celebrated with a great meal.Women in the house get together and cook,sometimes for a few days before the event,and the extremely good or unusual food will be remembered and widely talked about.

You cannot over-value the importance of food in the country.What’s more,almost everyone in Poland will be as interested in the topic as I am.

When the writer was a child,he/she ______.

A.found people were crazy about bread

B.began to realize the importance of food

C.thought that cutting bread was amazing

D.learned people hardly baked their own bread

The writer feels very sorry when he/she has to throw away any food because ______.

A.he/she makes food from scratch

B.his/her parents would blame him/her

C.some customs still have effect on him/her

D.many people are still working hard as farmers

From the text,we can learn that,in Poland,_______.

A.most meals can be interesting topics for a long time

B.the whole family often have meals together nowadays

C.it’s common for women to get together to cook for a few days

D.family members can know more about each other by having meals together

A tourist comes out of the airport．There are a lot of taxis，but the tourist asks every taxi—driver his name．He takes the third taxi．It costs￡5 from the airport to the hotel．“How much does it cost for the whole day?” the tourist asks．“￡100”，says the taxi-driver．This is very expensive，the tourist accepts the price．

    The taxi—driver takes the tourist everywhere．He shows him all monuments and all the museums．In the evening they go back to the hotel．The tourist gives the taxi-driver￡100 and says，“What about tomorrow?” The taxi-driver looks at the tourist．“Tomorrow? It’s another￡ 100 tomorrow．”But the tourist says，“That’s OK．If that’s the price，that is the price．See you tomorrow．”The taxi—driver is very pleased．

    The next day the taxi-driver takes the tourist everywhere again．They visit all the museums and all the monuments again．And in the second evening they go back to the hotel．The tourist gives the taxi—driver another￡100 and says，“I’m going home tomorrow．”The taxi-driver is sorry．He likes the tourist and，above all，￡100 a day is good money．“So you are going home．Where do you come from?” he asks．

    “I come from New York．”

    “New York!” says the taxi-driver，“I have a sister in New York．Her name is Susannah．Do you know her?”

    “Of course 1 know her．She gave me￡200 for you．”

The tourist is______   ．

  A．an Englishman    B．a Frenchman    C．a Swedish D．an American

The tourist asks every taxi—driver his name because______    ．

  A．he is afraid of being cheated      B．he wants to remember all of the taxi—drivers’names

  C．he knows of one of the taxi-drivers D．there is a friend of his among the taxi drivers

Why is the taxi-driver very pleased with the tourist?

  A．None but the tourist agrees to the price given without arguing with him．

  B．His sister knows the tourist．

  C．His sister has brought so much money to him．

  D．He wants to be the guide of the tourist．

We can conclude that ______  ．

  A．the tourist will give the taxi-driver another￡200

  B．the tourist makes fun of the taxi—driver

  C．the tourist will give the taxi—driver half of the sum

  D．the taxi-driver insists that the tourist should pay him another￡200

I was in a terrible mood. Two of my friends had gone to the movies the night before and hadn’t invited me．I was in my room thinking of ways to make them sorry when my father came in. “Want to go for a ride，today，Beck? It’s a beautiful day.”

       “No ! Leave me alone!” Those were the last words I said to him that morning．

       My friends called and invited me to go to the mall with them a few hours later．I forgot to be mad at them and when I came home to find a note on the table. My mother put it where I would be sure to see it. “Dad has had an accident. Please meet us at Highland Park Hospital”．

    When I reached the hospital，my mother came out and told me my father’s injuries were extensive.“ Your lather told the driver to leave him alone and just call 911，thank God! If he had moved Daddy，there’s no telling what might have happened．A broken rib（肋骨）might have pierced（穿透）a lung….”

       My mother may have said more，but I didn’t hear．I didn’t hear anything except those terrible words：Leave me alone．My dad said them to save himself from being hurt more．How much had I hurt him when I hurled those words at him earlier in the day?

    It was several days later that he was finally able to have a conversation．I held his hand gently, afraid of hurting him．

       “Daddy… I am so sorry….”

“It’s okay，sweetheart．I'll be okay．”

       “No，”I said，“I mean about what I said to you that day．You know, that morning?”

       My father could no more tell a lie than he could fly．He looked at me and said．“Sweetheart, I don’t remember anything about that day，  not before，during or after the accident.I remember kissing you goodnight the night before，though．”He managed a weak smile．

    My English teacher once told me that words have immeasurable power．They can hurt or they can heal．And we all have the power to choose our words. I intend to do that very carefully from now on.

The author was in bad mood that morning because        .

    A．his father had a terrible accident

    B．he couldn’t drive to the mall with his friends

    C．his friends hadn’t invited him to the cinema

    D．his father didn’t allow him to go out with his friends

Why did the author say sorry to his father in the hospital?

       A．Because he didn’t go along with his father．

       B．Because he was rude to his father that morning．

       C．Because he failed to come earlier after the accident．

       D．Because he couldn’t look after his father in the hospital

The reason why the author’s father said he forgot everything about that day is that     .

       A．he had a poor memory             B．he didn’t wanted to comfort his son

       C．he just wanted to comfort his son    D．he lost his memory after the accident

What lesson did Beck learn from the matter?

       A．Don’t treat your parents badly．

       B．Don’t hurt others with rude words．

       C．Don’t move the injured in an accident．

       D．Don’t be angry with friends at small things