Height is just one of the thousands of features your genes decide. In fact, because you have two parents, your genes provide you a height that usually lands somewhere between the height of each parent. If both your parents are tall, then most probably you will be tall, too, but if you have questions about how tall you’re going to be, ask your doctor if he or she can help you find it out.
But genes don’t decide everything. For example, eating an unhealthy diet can keep you from growing to your full potential(潛力). Getting plenty of sleep and enough exercise will help you grow to the expected height.
No doubt you’re wondering how fast you should grow. It depends. There’s no perfect or right answer. Generally speaking, kids grow about 2 inches (6 centimeters) a year between age 3 and the time when they start puberty (when your body starts changing and becoming more grown up).
Your doctor will know how your growth has been going over the years. Two centimeters here and 2 inches there are not nearly as important as the height you’re at now, how you’ve been growing up to this point, and what other changes your body may be going through.
Don’t be scared if you seem to have grown a lot in a very short time. Everyone has a growth spurt（高峰）during puberty. The age for starting puberty is about 10 for girls and about 11 for boys. But it can be earlier or later ----between 7 and 13 for girls and 9 and 15 for boys.
You’ll usually begin to notice that you’re growing faster about a year or so after your body starts to show the first changes of puberty. 
【小題1】. The Chinese for the word “puberty” is 　　　　　　　　　.

A thousand years ago Hong Kong was covered by a thick forest. As more and more people came to 　31　 in Hong Kong, these trees were cut down and burnt. Now there is　32　 forest left, though there are still some small areas covered with trees. We call these woods.
　　Elephants, tigers and many　33　 animals were living in the thick forest. When people came to live in Hong Kong, the　34　 began to die out. Early farmers grew rice and　35　 pigs and chickens in the valleys. They cut down the trees and burnt them. They needed　36　 to keep themselves warm in winter, to cook their food and to keep away the dangerous animals. Elephants quickly disappeared because there was not enough food for them. 　37　 did most of the wolves and tigers. Monkeys and many other animals soon　38　 in the same way.
　　You might think that there are no longer any animals in Hong Kong　39　 in the zoos. But there are still about 36 different animals　40　 there. One of the most interesting of Hong Kong's animals is the barking deer. These are beautiful little animals　41　 a rich brown coat and a white patch (補(bǔ)丁) under the tail. They look like deer but they are much smaller. They are less than two feet　42　. They make a noise rather like a dog　43　. In Hong Kong the barking deer has only a real enemy--　44　. People hunt these little animals though it is illegal (違法的). There are now not many barking deer left. So it is important　45　 people to protect wild animals.

Jack is a twenty-year-old young man. Two years ago, when he finished middle school, he found work in a shop. Usually he works until ten o'clock in the evening. He is very tired when he gets home. After a quick supper he goes to bed and soon falls asleep. His grandma who lives downstairs is satisfied with (滿意) him.

One day, on his way home, he met Mary. They were both happy. He asked the girl to his house, she agreed happily. He bought some fruit and drinks for her. And they talked about their school, teachers, classmates and their future . They talked for a long time.

“Have a look at your watch, please,” said the girl. “What time is it now?”

　　“Sorry, something is wrong with my watch,” said Jack. “Where's yours?”

　　“I left it at home.”

　　Jack thought for a moment and found a way. He began to stamp his foot on the floor, “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

　　The sound woke his grandma up. The old woman shouted downstairs, “It's twelve o'clock in the night, Jack. Why are you still jumping upstairs?”

1.Jack was ________ when he finished middle school.

　　A. sixteen　        B. eighteen　               C. twenty　         D. fifteen

2.The old woman is satisfied with Jack because ________.

　　A. he's her grandson　　                    B. he's clever

　　C. he can keep quiet　　                    D. he gets home on time

3.From the story, we can know that Mary is Jack's ________.

　　A. classmate　　        B. colleague (同事)　　 C. aunt      　　  D. wife

4.The word “stamp” in the story means ______ in Chinese.

　　A. 蓋印　　         B. 跺　　               C. 貼郵票　　   D. 承認(rèn)

5.Jack stamped his foot on the floor in order (為了) ________.

　　A. to wake his grandma up

　　B. to make his grandma angry

　　C. that his grandma was going to tell him the time

D. that his grandma was going to buy him a watch

完形填空
Time is very important in our lives. But it never had any importance in my life until I 　1　 a watch from my father that made me responsible(有責(zé)任). It 　2　 me the importance of time in my life.
I got this gift on a grey-sky day. I had to go to the 　3　 at 9:00 a.m. to pick up（接）my uncle Ali and take him to my father’s house. However, I forgot it 　4　 I was playing with my friends. Later on that day, around 11:00 a.m., I 　5　 my uncle, but I was late for him. He had got out of the plane and 　6　 a taxi to my father’s house.
I　7　 my father’s house at 2:00 p.m. at the same day . My father looked at me angrily. I said “hi” to him and my 　8　 uncle. My father asked me to sit 　9　 him and handed me this watch which was a gift from 　10　. It weighed 8 oz（盎司）and all of it was made of silver（銀）. Then he said, “Essa, did you have fun 　11　 your friends today? What you did was not very nice and you should be sorry for your 　12　.” I felt sorry and told my father that I wouldn’t do it again. Then he said, “This watch will be a reminder(提醒物) for you. I hope today you have learned something 　13　.”
I learned a lesson from my father: to respect(尊重) time and 　14　 be late. The watch is important to me, not because of its  15　, but because of the lesson that I learned from it.