After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a spe­cial student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me. I was told it would mean a great deal to him, so I agreed.

During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy (肌肉萎縮癥). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams.

I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we had finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “You are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”

Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:

Dear Dick,

My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don’t have long to live any more, but I still smile as much as I can.

I told you someday that I would go to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I will never get to do that. However, I know I’m a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you for loving me.

Your friend,

Matthew

1.The boy looked forward to meeting the author because _________. 

2.The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that _______.

3.From the passage we learn that _________. 

4.Matthew didn’t accept the author’s medal because _________.  

5.What would be the best title for this passage? 

I spent my last Christmas Day working the whole day!
Due to the nature of my job, I had to go back to my __41___ and spent my whole Christmas Day there. Of course, It __42___ no good! Surely you will get ___43__ when almost all of your friends are either resting at home, watching TV, listening to music, __44___ watching movies in the cinema, and you are the only one that is not __45___. The feeling is really bad. And I really did not feel like __46___ and going to work in the morning. But I __47___ went to work. I am a responsible guy. Since the arrangement was like that, I __48___.
Of course, there is something __49___ about working on Christmas Day and most public __50___. First of all, since I had no plan to go out, or do any __51___ activities on that day, I most likely would __52___ the day at home playing computer games, so why not go to work and ___53__ some extra money? It makes sense to me. Besides, it is a holiday for __54___ the whole world. It __55___ most of my company’s offices in other __56___ would probably not be working, __57___ those in China, Japan and Thailand as Christmas is not a holiday for people there. Less users, less problems, meaning? Less __58___ for us to do. And the best part is, the office is ours! I can __59___ my laptop to the office, watch movies, play games, and at the same time, get my extra __60___! Well, what do you think of working on holidays?

Most people have no idea of the hard work and worry that go into the collecting of those interesting birds and animals that they pay to see in the zoo. One of the questions that is always asked of me is 36  I became an animal collector in the first 37  .The answer is that I have always been interested in animals and zoos. According to my parents, the first word I was able to say with any 38    was not the traditional “mamma” or “daddy”,39   the word “zoo”, which I would 40  over and over again with a exciting 41   until someone, in groups to 42  me up, would take me to the zoo. When I 43  a little older, we lived in Greece and I had a great 44 of pets, ranging from owls(鷹) to seahorses, and I spent all my spare time 45the countryside in search of fresh specimens to 46  to my collection of pets.

47 on I went for a year to the City Zoo, as a student 48  , to get experience of the large animals, such as lions, bears, bison and ostriches,49  were not easy to keep at home. When I left, I 50  had enough money of my own to be able to 51  my first trip and I have been going 52  ever since then. Though a collector's job is not an easy one and is full of  53  ,it is certainly a job which will appeal 54  all those who love animals and 55 . 

1.                A．how           B．where          C．when D．whether

2.                A．region         B．field           C．place D．a(chǎn)rea

3.                A．clearness       B．emotion        C．feeling   D．a(chǎn)ffection

4.                A．except         B．but            C．except for D．but for

5.                A．recite          B．recognize       C．read D．repeat

6.                A．volume         B．noise           C．voice D．pitch

7.                A．close          B．shut           C．stop D．comfort

8.                A．grew           B．was growing     C．grow D．grown

9.                A．many          B．a(chǎn)mount         C．number  D．much

10.               A．living          B．seeing         C．liking D．exploring

11.               A．increase        B．include         C．a(chǎn)dd  D．enrich

12.               A．later           B．further         C．then  D．farther

13.               A．servant         B．keeper         C．member   D．a(chǎn)ssistant

14.               A．who           B．they           C．of which   D．which

15.A successfully    B. gladly       C. nearly       D. luckily 

16.               A．pay            B．finance         C．a(chǎn)llow D．provide

17.               A．normally        B．often          C．usually    D．regularly

18.               A．unhappiness     B．sorrows        C．excitement     D．disappointments

19.               A．for            B．with           C．to    D．from

20.               A．voyage         B．travel          C．journey   D．Trip

As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents in Texas. And every few summers, we’d __16__ the caravan (旅游團(tuán)隊(duì)), a group of Airstream trailer owners who __17__ together around the U.S. and Canada．

I loved and worshipped my grandparents and I really looked __18__ to these travels. On one particular __ 19__ ，I was about 10 years old. I was rolling around in the backseat. My grandfather was __20__ . And my grandmother had the passenger seat. She smoked throughout these trips, and I hated the __21__.

    At that age, I’d take any excuse to make estimates(估計(jì)) and do minor __22__．At any rate, I decided to do the math for my __23__. I estimated the number of  cigarettes per days, estimated the number of __24__ per cigarette and so on. When I was satisfied that I’d come up with a reasonable number, I poked my head  into the __25__ of the car, tapped my grandmother __26__ the shoulder, and proudly proclaimed, “At two minutes per puff, you've taken nine years off your __27__!” Because the ad said, every puff of a cigarette takes some  number of minutes __28__ smoker’s life．

I expected to be applauded for my __29__ and arithmetic skills. That’s not what happened．__30__, my grandmother burst into __31__. I sat in the backseat and did not know what to do. My grandfather was a highly intelligent, __32__ man. He had never said a harsh word to me. He pulled __33__ onto the shoulder of the highway. He stopped and got out of the car, __34__ me, and after a bit of silence，he gently and __35__ said, “Jeff, one day you’ll understand that it’s harder to be kind than clever.”   

1.A. take  B. join   C. attend    D. visit

2.A. work  B. study  C. travel     D. explore

3.A. forward    B. backward   C. toward    D. upward

4.A. holiday    B. research     C. trip      D. return

5.A. talking     B. reading     C. training   D. driving

6.A. scene      B. smell       C. band      D. type

7.A. arithmetic(算數(shù))  B. question  C. game    D. problem

8.A. grandfather  B. grandmother  C. visitor    D. car

9.A. cases     B. smokes   C. kinds   D. puffs(煙頭)

10.A. window   B. seat      C. back        D. front  

11.A. at        B. in        C. on           D. under

12.A. tour      B. life      C. distance       D. date

13.A. away     B. from      C. with         D. off

14.A. cleverness   B. coolness   C. happiness    D. ability

15.A. Eventually   B. Instead   C. Unfortunately  D. Though

16.A. words     B. laughters    C. tears       D. screams

17.A. stubborn   B. determined  C. lonely      D. quiet

18.A. over        B. in         C. away       D. up

19.A. noticed      B. looked     C. glared      D. glanced

20.A. angrily      B. excitedly    C. calmly    D. coldly

Since my family were not going to be helpful, I decided I would look for one all by myself and not tell them about it till I’d got one.

    I had seen an agency (中介機(jī)構(gòu)) advertised in a local newspaper. I rushed out of the  61  in search of it. I was wildly excited, and as  62   as if I were going on the stage. Finding the  63   quite easily, I ran breathlessly through a door which said “Enter without knocking, if you please.”

    The simple atmosphere of the office   64   me. The woman looked carefully at me  65  through her glasses, and then  66   me in a low voice. I answered softly. All of a sudden I started to feel rather   67   . She wondered why I was looking for this sort of   68   . I felt even more helpless when she told me that it would be   69   to get a job without   70   . I wondered whether I ought to leave,   71  the telephone on her desk rang. I heard her say: “  72  , I’ve got someone in the  73   at this very moment who might  74  .” She wrote down a  75  , and held it out to me, saying: “ Ring up this lady. She wants a   76   immediately. In fact, you would have to start tomorrow by cooking a dinner for ten people.”

    “ Oh yes,” said I —  77  having cooked for more than four in my life. I  78   her again and again, and rushed out to the   79   telephone box. I collected my thoughts, took a deep breath, and rang the number. I said confidently that I was just what she was looking for. I spent the next few hours   80   cook books.

1.A. bed    B house    C. agency           D. office

2.A. proud                B. pleased          C. nervous        D. worried

3.A. family        B. door              C. place     D. stage

4.A. calmed      B. excited         C. frightened             D. disturbed

5.A. as usual     B. for a while    C. in a minute            D. once again

6.A. advised     B. examined             C. informed      D. questioned

7.A. encouraged       B. dissatisfied           C. hopeless      D. pleased

8.A. place          B. job                 C. advice           D. help

9.A. difficult               B. helpless                 C. possible        D. unusual

10.A. ability       B. experience   C. knowledge            D. study

11.A. after         B. since     C. until               D. when

12.A. Above all          B. As a matter of fact         C. As a result            D. In spite of that

13.A. family       B. house   C. office           D. restaurant

14.A. hire          B. accept  C. suit               D. offer

15.A. letter        B. name    C. note             D. number

16.A. cook         B. help      C. teacher        D. secretary

17.A. almost      B. never    C. nearly          D. really

18.A. answered         B. promised       C. thanked        D. told

19.A. outside    B. local      C. closest         D. nearest

20.A. borrowing        B. buying  C. reading        D. writing